Adam Gaudette is Making the Sens' Fourth Line Work
The Hockey Gaud has been the season's most pleasant surprise.
Adam Gaudette has been the most pleasant surprise of the early part of the Ottawa Senators' 2024-25 season. While I was of the mind that almost any combination of players was likely to yield better results on the Sens' fourth line than the trios the team rolled out last year, I can't say that I was expecting Gaudette to look this good as the fourth line centre. Sure, he scored 44 goals in the AHL last season, but he's also 28 years old and had previously failed to stick around with three other franchises. So when he came out of the gate scoring on seemingly every other shot, but also driving play, I took notice.
Obviously it's a lot easier to appreciate a fourth liner who is contributing offensively – Gaudette's six goals are the kind of total you expect to see in your top six, not on your fourth line, at this time of the year. But there's been more to his game than just converting his chances at an unsustainably high rate.
Murray Pam had a nice little piece on Gaudette last week for Full Press Hockey. As you are likely aware, Travis Green has already coached Gaudette when they were both in Vancouver. I thought this was a telling insight:
