Belleville Senators Prospect Update - November 21st

With a 2-1-1 record over the last two weeks, the Belleville Senators continue to show that even mediocre goaltending can be enough to earn those valuable points in the standings. Here's hoping the A-Team, who's investing roughly ten times as much cash into the position, can follow suit.

Of course, it wasn't enough for one of the organization's goalie prospects to be injured – Leevi Merilainen has now joined Mads Sogaard on the injured list, leaving Ottawa with two healthy goalies on their roster. Malcolm Subban, on an AHL-only deal, has put up a .901 save percentage in the four games he's played since Merilainen's injury.

• Friday, Nov. 8th: VS. Laval Rocket - 4-3 Loss
• Saturday, Nov. 9th: VS. Laval Rocket - 3-2 Win
• Wednesday, Nov. 13th: VS. Syracuse Crunch - 4-1 Loss
• Saturday, Nov. 16th: @ Toronto Marlies - 4-3 Win (SO)

Notable Performances:

Angus Crookshank

Crookshank has rebounded from some pre-and-early season struggles to become Belleville's leading goal scorer once again. A two-goal game against Laval, plus additional tallies against Syracuse and Toronto have him at 6 goals in his past 5 games, and 9 points in 12 games on the year. Notably waiver-exempt, the Sens are free to move him between the NHL and AHL as much as they want – look for him to be called up soon in case of an injury on the left wing.

Zack Ostapchuk

A 12-round shootout capped off the team's most recent game against the Marlies, which was ended by Ostapchuk, who also had two assists on the night. The good draft pick from 2021 is only behind Cole Reinhardt and Garret Pilon for points per game on the team and closed out his first NHL stint of the season with safe, low-event hockey (think Nick Paul on training wheels) along with an assist in 6 games. He continues to be the next man up in case of injuries down the middle.

Stephen Halliday

Though, after a slow start, Halliday isn't too far behind. Despite just 5 points in 12 games so far, the 4th-rounder from 2022 had a goal and assist in the 4-3 loss to Laval a few weeks back. The team as a whole has struggled to produce, with Halliday still fitting into their top six as their fifth-most productive forward, but he's still the same player that led the team in playoff scoring less than a year ago, with his main triggerman in Pilon still in the fold. I suspect it's only a matter of time before he turns the pace back to eleven.

Stats: