Ottawa Senators Prospect Update: February 6-13

There are two halves to the Sens’ prospect pipeline.

There’s the Belleville Senators, where inept roster management and a lack of goaltending has dragged down the development of a group of pro rookies.

Then there’s the outside prospects, where the future looks much more bright. A series-high five prospects went over-the-top in the past week, all coming from different leagues.

Stats Sheet

Biggest Standouts

Aaron Luchuk

Luchuk’s Barrie Colts went 2-1 this week scoring thirteen goals, with Luchuk contributing on nearly half of them. He’s developed chemistry next to top 2018 prospect Andrei Svechnikov, with the duo sharing points on three goals this week.

His goal was his league-leading 40th of the season, as he’s second in points behind Morgan Frost. He’s riding an eleven-game point streak, picking up 22 points in that span (6 goals, 16 assists).

Drake Batherson

What a dream season for Batherson. It’s hard to believe it was less than a year ago that the Sens selected him in the fourth round, as his meteoric rise to prospect stardom continued this week with seven points in three games.

In his return to Cape Breton to face the Screaming Eagles, Batherson was named the first star, picking up two goals in the process. Oddly enough, Batherson hasn’t had a single point in a game for his last eight contests, with six multi-point games since January 28th. Along with QMJHL leading scorer Alex Barré-Boulet (who hopefully Dorion is trying to sign), the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada are running away as the league’s first place team, with a record of 39-9-5.

Drake Batherson had 2 Goals and was named 1st Star in his return to Cape Breton 🚨⭐️

Batherson picked up 7 Points (3G, 4A) in 3GP this weekend. pic.twitter.com/irfj2FSDre

— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) February 12, 2018

Christian Wolanin

Wolanin was named the NCHC defenceman of the week, picking up a penalty shot goal and a pair of assists to break his previous career high in points. He leads North Dakota in scoring as well, helping an offence that lost most of their big scorers in 2016 and 2017. They’re still a strong team, however, holding steady at third in the division. Wolanin will likely turn pro next season, as he should provide a boost of offence to a Belleville blue line that hasn’t even contributed 20 goals on the season.

Markus Nurmi

The Sens’ lone prospect from Finland is heating up, with a three point burst in his two games this week. Playing against pros in the Liiga, he ranks 10th in points amongst U20 players, and fifth in goals. Known primarily for his shot, he’ll be staying in Finland for at least another season before a decision will be made regarding coming to North America (his contract with TPS expires after next season).

Plus, if you needed something to cheer you up today:

Petrus Palmu (5'7'') hugging Markus Nurmi (6'3'') is my new favourite gif pic.twitter.com/vJWdJZbsYN

— Janik Beichler (@JanikBeichler) February 9, 2018

Thomas Chabot

Closing out this section is none other than the young gun in Ottawa, Thomas Chabot. He scored an assist in every game for Ottawa this past week, while splitting ‘Karlsson time’ with Johnny Oduya. He’s been able to hold his own, already close to being the second highest scorer on the Sens’ blue line.

Silver Linings

• Ben Harpur will officially be graduating from prospect status after this season, as he signed a two-year, one-way extension with the Senators. The towering defenceman, who picked up two assists in the AHL this weekend, will make $1.45M over the course of the deal.
• Colin White scored his first NHL goal this week against the New Jersey Devils! And off a nice feed from Chabot, no less.
• Some updates to the AHL injury bug: Max Lajoie returned to the lineup, while Christian Jaros, Francis Perron and Jack Rodewald are still on the IR.
• Have to wonder what’s keeping Jaros out of the lineup. The original injury was just a blocked shot, and he was supposedly a game-time decision on January 26th after missing less than a week. It’s been well over a month since the last update from the team.
• The title of Belleville’s leading scorer still belongs to Gabriel Gagné, with his fifteen goals making him one of two players with at least ten (Jim O’Brien is the other). He’s been cold since Christmas, however, with three goals and five points in his last 22 games.
• There was very little playing from the goalies in the Sens’ pipeline this week. Chris Driedger was sent back down to the ECHL, as Hogberg and Taylor are managing the Belleville crease.
• Hogberg had quite the up-and-down week, recording his first career AHL shutout (33 saves), then being pulled halfway through the following game after allowing six goals on 21 shots. I think it’s fair to say his .888 Sv% in the AHL has been underwhelming, although the Belleville defence has been ridden with holes.
• In more bad goalie news: Jordan Hollett will be out 4-6 weeks with a lower body injury. A bad break for Ottawa’s 6th round pick from 2017.
• Parker Kelly was suspended for a hit in a game on Saturday. The length hasn’t been announced, although he didn’t play on Sunday.
• Kelly Summers scored two goals this week, in the same game against Colgate. With seventeen goals across his four years at Clarkson University, it was the first multi-goal game of his time in the NCAA./