Belleville Senators Prospect Update - January 29th

Despite a poor 1-3-0 record over the last two weeks, the Belleville Senators have seen an uptick in scoring from a few of their top prospects, and saw a few other depth pieces have strong performances as well. Desperate for any sort of consistency in net with Leevi Merilainen's absence, Belleville sits at 16-14-5, 8 points out of a playoff spot with 6 games in hand. Yes, you read that right. Six games in hand. A scheduling masterclass by the American Hockey League.

• Wednesday, Jan. 15th: VS Lehigh Valley Phantoms - 3-2 Loss
• Friday, Jan. 17th: @ Hershey Bears - 4-1 Loss
• Friday, Jan. 24th: VS Hershey Bears - 4-3 Win (OT)
• Saturday, Jan. 25th: VS Hershey Bears - 5-3 Loss

With depth forwards dropping like flies thanks to the injury bug, Angus Crookshank has chosen an opportune time to heat up. With 2 goals and 5 assists in the past 4 games, he's now tied for second in team scoring with 24 points in 35 games. It's still a down-year by his standards, but the recent play of the 2018 5th-rounder is worthy of a call-up to Ottawa.

Nick Cousins has been a double-edged sword in the team's bottom-six that recently has been drawing more blood from opposing teams than his own, and with him out of action for the forseeable future, Crookshank is the best choice to fill his shoes, as he brings some of those same elements to his game that cause opposing players to become much more acquainted with the penalty timekeeper.

As for Belleville's most consistent player of late, Stephen Halliday hasn't been held off the scoresheet in back-to-back games since November 23rd, and among his four points was the overtime winner in the team's lone victory over Hershey:

The biggest obstacle in Halliday's path to the NHL is Ottawa's centre depth. Tim Stützle, Josh Norris, and Shane Pinto, while underperforming offensively compared to what we've seen in past seasons, have been adequate in their respective roles, and Halliday isn't being developed with the goal of becoming a fourth-liner. That said, Ottawa's fourth line has seen some improved offense in large part thanks to Adam Gaudette's career renaissance, and a fourth line featuring him, Crookshank and Halliday could be very effective.

Recent injuries on the back end have given GM Steve Staios a chance to look at the organization's internal depth, to gauge whether or not he should make a move to bring in another defenseman on either side. To that end, Donovan Sebrango, whose stock has risen quite a bit this season, made his NHL debut against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 16th, in his hometown, with his mom in the stands.

Sebrango played 11:38 in the 1-0 overtime loss and didn't look out of place in the NHL, and while I'll need to see a bigger sample size to be sure, I'd guess we'd be okay with him as the next man up behind fellow 2020 draftee Tyler Kleven on the left point. Shout-out to Nikolas Matinpalo as well, who's done well on the 3rd pair in 13 games. It's clear that Staios' biggest need is on the offensive side of things heading into the trade deadline. Unless, of course, those two also become injured.

It took him 39 games, but Zack Ostapchuk is finally on the board with his first NHL goal. An icebreaker in the second-period helped the Senators beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on the road, on the second half of a back-to-back. Not a ton of tougher games out there, I must admit. The Devils usually make the Sens look like a joke, so this was a nice change of pace.

Despite that huge first goal, I wouldn't be opposed to sending Ostapchuk back to Belleville for a bit. The team loses out on goals and chances when he's on the ice, with Noah Gregor and Cole Reinhardt being the only bottom-six players with weaker results. Another stint on an AHL top-six would allow Ostapchuk to develop his offensive skills a bit more, something we haven't seen much of from him since his performance in the 2022 WHL playoffs.

Lastly, 2019 2nd-rounder and reclamation project Jamieson Rees had a productive few games with Belleville, with 3 points, including a goal and assist in that 4-3 OT win over Hershey. Just 6 points in 16 games so far, a far cry from the player the Carolina Hurricanes envisioned when they selected him with Ottawa's 2nd-round pick (well, technically it was Florida's from the Mike Hoffman robbery). I expect him to not be qualified in the offseason, and take an AHL job elsewhere.