Ottawa Senators Prospect Update - February 7th

Despite there not being too many standouts this week in the Sens prospect pool, it’s about quality, not quantity. The usual suspects from the 2022 draft class kept things rolling, while a trio of Finns had strong performances as well.

Forwards

Stephen Halliday

A fourth-round selection from the recent draft, Halliday continues to shine amongst Ottawa’s collegiate prospects, adding five assists over two games to his total, now at 30 points in 28 games. Even for a player at around the same age as a third-year college player, this is still a strong season for a fourth-round pick. I’d expect him to play one more season with Ohio State before joining the Belleville Senators in a middle-six role.

Zack Ostapchuk

Ostapchuk’s no longer “the guy” on his team. The former captain of the Vancouver Giants is one of many quality centers on the WHL-contender Winnipeg Ice, which features recent first-round picks in Matthew Savoie and Conor Geekie, and this may play a role in Ostapchuk being relied upon less than before. With a point-per-game pace in his last three games, he now has 40 points in 32 games on the year, including 11 in 11 with the Ice.

Roby Jarventie

Jarventie’s one of a few Belleville forwards with a pair of points in the last few games, but he’s done so on the back of recovering from a long-term injury he suffered at the beginning of the season. He’s got several games left to put together a strong season and prove that he’s still very much worth keeping an eye on.

Defensemen

Jorian Donovan

Ostapchuk’s having a strong D+2 season in the WHL, but Donovan has been Ottawa’s most impressive junior prospect to my eye. He’s kept up his fantastic scoring pace with 41 points in 45 games as a D+1 defenseman drafted in the fifth round, including three points in his last two games. There were crowds that loved the fact that he’s the son of former Senator and current player development coach Shean Donovan, others that were happy with the fact that public scouting sources projected him to be selected ahead of where Ottawa took him, as well as those who found his name to be absolutely elite. Talk about covering all the bases!

Lassi Thomson

While not taking as big of a step forward as some may have hoped, Thomson has still been able to keep up a strong rate of production for a defenseman. Currently, the 19th overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft has 15 points in 28 games but hasn’t done enough to get a longer look in the AHL. Also, he’s listed as waiver-eligible next season by CapFriendly, and I’m not sure why since he was playing in Europe during the 2019-20 season. But if it’s accurate, that means that both he and Jacob Bernard-Docker need to be on the NHL roster next season to safely keep them.

Goaltending

Leevi Merilainen

In part due to the struggles of Mads Sogaard and Kevin Mandolese, Merilainen is quickly cementing himself as Ottawa’s most valuable goalie prospect, as he has been a rock for Karpat’s Liiga squad. He posted back-to-back victories this past week, allowing just one goal on 59 shots to improve to a 14-8-5 record and a .924 save percentage.

Silver Linings

• If not for Merilainen’s standout performance, Kevin Reidler would’ve received top honours for the goalie position this week. The 6’6 netminder from Sweden and recent fifth-round selection of won two of his three games with AIK’s U20 team, posting a .926 save percentage. Furthermore, his performance has earned him a call-up to AIK’s main club in the Allsvenskan, though he hasn’t appeared in any games for them yet.
• 2022 third-round pick Oskar Pettersson was reassigned to Rogle BK’s U20 team after tallying a goal, an assist, 16 shots, and 33 PIM (25 of those came in a single shift!!!) in 21 games. Despite the lack of production, playing in the top Swedish league for as long as he did isn’t a bad result for a player with his draft pedigree. He scored his 16th goal of the season for the U20 squad in his first game back.

Stats