Maxence Guenette is making a bit of noise, and is close to an NHL opportunity.
Just as things seemed to be looking up for the Ottawa Senators, the team went ahead and lost three games in a row, their AHL affiliate fell in two of three, and their top prospects saw their World Junior tournament come to a premature end. With so many players out with injury and/or illness, my focus has shifted even more towards evaluating individual performances than before, which is what these updates are all about.
Defenceman Maxence Guenette was Ottawa’s most productive prospect this past week, with 3 assists in his 2 games, bringing him up to 7 points in 16 games with Belleville, a solid pace for a defenseman in his first professional season, let alone one drafted in the seventh round. Here, you’ll see him receive the puck at the blue line, avoid a stick check and quickly get the puck on net, where Roby Järventie takes advantage of the ensuing scrum./
Järventie, Ottawa’s first of three second-round picks from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, also stood out with a 2-point night on Saturday, and he currently has 11 points in 23 games in his first AHL season.
Guenette was recently called up to the Sens’ taxi squad in response to the plethora of positive COVID-19 cases that have swarmed the roster. With the injuries on top of that, Guenette is now practicing on the team’s second pair with Erik Brännström. /
Sens Monday practice lines: Tkachuk Batherson Shaw Formenton Stützle CBrown Bishop Gambrell Watson Xxx Gaudette Sabourin
Holden Zub Brannstrom Guenette Del Zotto Thomson Xxxx JBrown
Ottawa isn’t scheduled to return to action until Saturday, Jan. 8th against the Vancouver Canucks, and with Nikita Zaitsev and Josh Brown still on the injured reserve, mark that day on your calendar as a potential first NHL game, preferably using something that’ll come off easily, since the schedule is currently as volatile as the team itself.
Brännström and Lassi Thomson played against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, and the former in particular was impressive in 3:31 of penalty killing time.
With one assist in his only game this week, forward Viktor Lodin now has 17 points in 22 games with Timrå IK this season. That’s a lower points-per-game pace than from last season, but Timrå was playing in the second-tier Allsvenskan — by winning the championship that year, the club was promoted to the SHL, in which they’re currently second-last in the league with a 10-19-0 (wins-losses-ties) record. Lodin being able to produce at this rate against tougher competition is a sign that he may become a useful forward for Belleville next season at the very least. We’ve seen him do some preposterous things with the puck, and I’m curious to see what the 2019 fourth-rounder will become if he’s able to work out whatever has been holding him back from being a more consistent offensive threat.
Mads Søgaard and Kevin Mandolese both logged minutes against the Marlies over the last few days. Mandolese stopped 24 of 25 in Saturday’s win but was pulled in the following game yesterday after allowing 3 goals on 6 shots. Søgaard held off all 16 shots he faced in relief.
While he’s cooled off from his hot start, Carson Latimer, a 2021 fourth-round pick has continued to find success with the Prince Albert Raiders, adding two assists in three games, for a new total of 11 points in 10 games. Former Raider Parker Kelly has become a useful depth piece within Ottawa’s prospect pool, and it appears that Latimer is on his way to following in the former’s footsteps./
