Ottawa Senators Prospect Update: April 13th

Despite the looming reality that both the Ottawa and Belleville Senators will eventually end their seasons in the abysses of the Canadian divisions, a lot of us feel a real sense of promise for what next season will bring after Pierre Dorion’s performance at the NHL trade deadline. While the Senators didn’t make any blockbuster moves like years past, they may have finally cleared the path for the players who will determine the future fate of the franchise and we should realistically get a lot of looks at some of Ottawa’s most intriguing prospects at the professional level in the coming weeks. So all that to say, we’ll have plenty of motivation to keep watching despite the league standings. Here’s the prospect team of the week:

Forwards

How long exactly can Vitaly Abramov stay the Senators’ best kept secret? Abramov played elite hockey in the QMJHL, he stood out as maybe the Blue Jackets’ best prospect a couple years ago, and, as Spencer has explained at length, the skilled winger often looks like Belleville’s most valuable player. Abramov continued his scoring ways this week and he may yet get to a point-per-game pace on the season:

Vitaly Abramov with a gorgeous goal! Crookshank and Beaudin set him up perfectly.

Manitoba responds with a deflection seconds later, 3-2 BEL. #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/9minPBVSc6

— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) April 8, 2021

What more can we say about Tim Stützle really? While we’ve seen flashes of his brilliance all season long, Stützle’s offensive play has felt more consistent of late and he got rewarded with a goal and an assist during a primetime matchup against Ottawa’s most loathed of rivals:

🎯🎯🎯#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/uwqZbvGFwx

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 11, 2021

Suffice to say, Angus Crookshank has transitioned flawlessly into the AHL (albeit in a small sample size). Crookshank continues to shoot the puck freely, averaging two shots per game with more than a P/GP pace established. His hot start alone should offer reason enough to follow Belleville down the stretch.

Angus Crookshank (@Senators) seems to be handling life in @TheAHL pretty damn well.

Yesterday's goal and assist for the @BellevilleSens brings him to four points in his first three games.@UNHMHOCKEY alumni.https://t.co/v2lyJpxI2L pic.twitter.com/sWHV9H6yaW

— EP Rinkside (@EPRinkside) April 9, 2021

Defence

Don’t look now but Erik Brännström has points in back-to-back games and may have finally cemented his spot in the NHL lineup. Bonestorm kicked off the post Coburn/Reilly era in Ottawa keeping this play alive an earning a secondary assist on Connor Brown’s franchise record-breaking goal:

Connor Brown has scored in 8 straight games! #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/rNDMSMJBYR

— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) April 12, 2021

Music to the ears of sens fans, Lassi Thomson has looked like a lone bright spot on a very thing Belleville blueline this season. Realistically we still have another year or so before we’ll see Lassi in Ottawa but our loss is Belleville’s gain where he can continue increasing his minutes. Thomson picked up an assist on Egor Sokolov’s first goal last Thursday:

🚨Egor Sokolov ripped a couple more goals on Thursday night in a wild 8-5 loss to Manitoba.

Sokolov, who has points in three straight, now leads Belleville with 9 goals in 18GP.#Sharkolov #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/0bazELBwJw

— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) April 9, 2021

Goaltending

Leevi Meriläinen came devastatingly close to a championship in 2021 but alas Kärpät fell in the U20 finals 2-1 despite a strong performance from Ottawa’s newest netminding prospect.  Here are the highlights from Leevi’s game two win of the three-game series:

Silver Linings

• Sens fans got more good news today outside of the trade-sphere as the team announced that Alex Formenton will stay in Ottawa (where he has belonged for a while now.)
• This pair of handsome scholars has officially commenced practice with the Ottawa Senators:/

Oh, hello 👀#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/DUu51CSI1E

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 12, 2021

• Mads Søgaard saw his season in Denmark come to an end as he recovered from injury but his team lost their semifinal matchup four games to two. Søgaard’s numbers fell off slightly in the post-season from what I would expect to be fatigue and injury. Mads doesn’t necessarily have to sign this summer so we’ll see if he stays in Europe of if Ottawa can fir him in the depth chart.
• Elsewhere in postseason action, Todd Burgess and Loheit saw their respective teams eliminated in final four. For Burgess, this concludes his time in the NCAA and Ottawa will have to make a decision this summer. Loheit will likely have another season or two on campus.
• And finally, Viktor Lodin’s Timrå IK squad can advance to the Allsvenskan finals today. Lodin himself suffered a concussion last week and could miss the finals should his team advance. We wish Viktor a speedy recovery./

Stats

Pro

NCAA

CHL

Europe

Goalies