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Ottawa Senators Prospect Update - October 11th

A trio of 2022 draftees are yielding some positive early returns for the Sens.

2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft - Portraits Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images

While it’s true that the Ottawa Senators have become the objectively best team in the NHL this past offseason, that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop covering the many young players striving to make a name for themselves in the prospect pool. On behalf of the entire team here at Silver Seven, Owen and I are excited to continue to provide these updates on a weekly basis, with today’s piece offering an overview of the changes made to the system, along with a couple of standouts among those who’ve started their seasons.

First off, Erik Brännström isn’t a prospect anymore. He’s secured an NHL roster spot and is on a one-way deal. Same for Parker Kelly, who played literally half of the 2021-22 season. Shane Pinto? Personally, I don’t think he’s been a prospect since 2021. He was set to play every game he was healthy for last year, which would’ve been 82 if not for injuries.

And then there’s Jake Sanderson. The 2020 5th-overall pick is arguably one of the best defensemen in the organization right now, ready to contribute in a Top-4 role, but since he hasn’t played an NHL game yet, and it’s not a sure thing whether or not he’s in Ottawa to stay, he’s a prospect for now. Though I have a suspicion he’ll quickly prove otherwise.

Over the course of the off-season, minor changes have been made to the Sens’ prospect pool beyond the nine selections they made in the 2022 NHL Draft. The lone player from the reserve list (found here on CapFriendly) to leave the organization is 2020 fifth-round overager Eric Engstrand.

Defenseman Jonny Tychonick and forward Jakov Novak, drafted in the second and seventh rounds of the 2018 draft, are entering their fifth year of college. A typical college degree lasts four years, but since both players transferred along the way (Tychonick went from NoDak to Omaha while Novak went from Bentley to Northeastern), they have one more year of eligibility, and by extension, one more year on Ottawa’s reserve list.

Lastly for today, here are a few standouts from early-season action. Coincidentally, all three of these guys are 2022 draftees:

  • Forward Oskar Pettersson, selected in the third round, is currently playing with Rögle BK’s junior team in the J20 Nationell. He’s got 8 goals and 5 assists in 13 games this far.
  • Stephen Halliday is entering the NCAA two years later than most, as a 20-year-old freshman at Ohio State University. The fourth-round center is off to a strong start with a goal and four assists in his first four games.
  • Finally, we have a player with a first name similar to “Dorion” who is also the son of Ottawa alumnus and player development coach Shean Donovan. Something tells me that if Pierre didn’t raise his stock with his acquisition of Alex DeBrincat prior to the draft, Sens Twitter would have been all over this selection, and not in a good way. Thankfully, we now love Dorion, and we are also starting to become fans of Jorian, too. One of four left-shot defensemen taken by the Senators in 2022, Donovan played a small role for the reigning OHL champion and Memorial Cup runner-up Hamilton Bulldogs and is showing early promise, particularly with a three-point night and Gordie Howe hat-trick on Friday against Owen Sound.

CHL

- - - - - - Since the last prospect update - | - T O T A L -
- - - - - - Since the last prospect update - | - T O T A L -
PLAYER POS AGE TEAM LEAGUE GP G A P PIM SOG SH% | GP G A P PIM SOG SH%
Tyler Boucher RW 19 Ottawa OHL 2 1 2 3 4 9 11% | 2 1 2 3 4 9 11%
Jorian Donovan LD 18 Hamilton OHL 2 1 2 3 9 4 25% | 2 1 2 3 9 4 25%
Tomas Hamara LD 18 Kitchener OHL 4 1 1 2 2 8 13% | 4 1 1 2 2 8 13%
Carson Latimer RW 19 Prince Albert WHL 6 2 3 5 4 15 13% | 6 2 3 5 4 15 13%
Zach Ostapchuk C 19 Vancouver WHL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%
Ben Roger RD 19 Kingston OHL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%
Chandler Romeo LD 19 Sarnia OHL 4 0 0 0 4 5 0% | 4 0 0 0 4 5 0%

USA

- - - - - Since the last prospect update - | - T O T A L -
- - - - - Since the last prospect update - | - T O T A L -
PLAYER POS AGE TEAM GP G A P PIM SOG SH% | GP G A P PIM SOG SH%
Stephen Halliday C 20 Ohio State Univ. 4 1 4 5 0 14 7% | 4 1 4 5 0 14 7%
Tyler Kleven LD 20 Univ. of North Dakota 3 0 0 0 2 3 0% | 3 0 0 0 2 3 0%
Luke Loheit RW 22 Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth 2 0 1 1 0 5 0% | 2 0 1 1 0 5 0%
Jakov Novak LW/C 23 Northeastern Univ. 3 1 0 1 4 5 20% | 3 1 0 1 4 5 20%
Cameron O'Neill RW 18 Tri-City (USHL) 4 1 3 4 2 N/A N/A | 4 1 3 4 2 N/A N/A
Jonny Tychonick LD 22 Univ. of Omaha 2 0 1 1 0 4 0% | 2 0 1 1 0 4 0%
Theo Wallberg LD 18 Dubuque (USHL) 4 0 1 1 2 N/A N/A | 4 0 1 1 2 N/A N/A
Tyson Dyck C 18 UMass 1 0 0 0 0 1 0% | 1 0 0 0 0 1 0%

Europe

- - - - - - Since the last prospect update - | - T O T A L -
- - - - - - Since the last prospect update - | - T O T A L -
PLAYER POS AGE TEAM LEAGUE GP G A P PIM SOG SH% | GP G A P PIM SOG SH%
Vitaly Abramov LW/RW 24 Moscow KHL 16 5 3 8 8 32 16% | 16 5 3 8 8 32 16%
Olle Alsing LD 26 Barys KHL 5 0 1 1 0 9 0% | 5 0 1 1 0 9 0%
Oliver Johansson C/LW 19 Timrå IK J20 Nationell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% | 33 19 22 41 12 88 22%
Oliver Johansson C/LW 19 Timrå IK SHL 6 0 0 0 0 3 0% | 6 0 0 0 0 3 0%
Filip Nordberg LD 18 Södertälje SK Allsvenskan 4 0 0 0 0 1 0% | 4 0 0 0 0 1 0%
Oskar Pettersson RW 18 Rögle BK J20 J20 Nationell 10 8 5 13 4 N/A N/A | 10 8 5 13 4 N/A N/A

Goalies

- - - - - Since the last prospect update - - | - T O T A L - -
- - - - - Since the last prospect update - - | - T O T A L - -
PLAYER AGE TEAM LEAGUE GP W L OTL SOL SA GA SV% | GP W L OTL SOL SA GA SV%
Kevin Mandolese 22 Belleville AHL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0%
Leevi Meriläinen 20 Karpat Liiga 4 2 0 0 0 71 8 88.7% | 4 2 0 0 0 71 8 88.7%
Mads Søgaard 21 Belleville AHL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0%
Kevin Reidler 18 AIK J20 J20 Nationnel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0%