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Ottawa Senators Prospect Update - April 26th

Tales of a dominant fourth line, a timely arrival from Sweden, and an eighth seed giving it their all.

Not only did both the Ottawa and Belleville Senators both rack up huge wins this week, but several of the team’s prospects are taking part in playoff hockey. Let’s check up on the team’s top performers this week — four forwards and one defenseman, call it a special power-play edition of the Prospect Update!

Forwards:

Mark Kastelic

Kastelic was tasked with a huge responsibility this week, filling in on Ottawa while also ensuring Belleville qualified for the AHL playoffs. He checked off both of those boxes, without a doubt. Two games in each league, with two goals apiece, the biggest of which was the first of his NHL career, against the Habs, bookended with a fight.

Also featured in his body of work are a couple of markers with a bit more finesse — a nice backhand move on which Carey Price had no chance, and a timely game-tying deflection against the Marlies on Sunday.

According to head coach D.J. Smith, he’ll be back up for tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils. It’s the perfect scenario for Kastelic, who will be looking to take advantage of the open 4C spot on Ottawa’s roster next season.

Parker Kelly

If Kastelic is a frontrunner for an NHL job next season, consider Kelly a shoo-in. He’s got 12 points in 38 NHL games this season, including two goals and an assist in three games this week, solid production for a fourth-liner. Though I’ll have to say my favourite play of his this week was this reverse hit on Habs defenseman Alexander Romanov, known for his physical game.

Seriously, can we draft every Prince Albert Raider? Please?

Viktor Lodin

It was looking grim for the Belleville Senators a few weeks ago. Despite the high number of spots available, it was practically a coin toss as to whether or not they’d make the playoffs this season. Enter Viktor Lodin. Just how much of an impact could this 2019 fourth-round pick who apparently should never have been drafted in the first place, possibly have in such a short amount of time? As it turns out, quite a big one. Belleville, now guaranteed to compete for the Calder Cup, has won 6 of 9 since Lodin’s arrival, and he’s got 7 points in those games, including 3 goals and an assist in 3 games this week. In that 4-3 win against Toronto, he also contributed off the scoresheet by drawing multiple penalties:

You might say he’s “reaching” new heights. That one’s never going to get old.

Zack Ostapchuk

Ostapchuk didn’t have a fantastic offensive season for Vancouver this year, with a lower point-per-game rate as opposed to the season before, but the 2021 2nd-rounder and Giants captain is off to a good start in the playoffs, as he tallied 3 assists in a 5-4 Game 1 victory over the first-seed Everett Silvertips on Friday. The series is currently tied 1-1, with Game 3 scheduled for tomorrow.

Defensemen:

Erik Brännström

One assist in three games brings him up to 13 assists in 50 games. It might not be what you want from the centrepiece of the Mark Stone trade, but that’s okay because the team already has Chabot and Sanderson on the left point. Besides, their other star player brought in enough of a haul for both of them. At any rate, Brännström’s puck skills make him an ideal choice for the third pairing, as well as one of the two power-play units, and his partnership with Artem Zub has a 5-on-5 shot attempt share of 51.90%, according to NaturalStatTrick.

Goaltending:

Filip Gustavsson

Expected to be the goalie leading Belleville through the playoffs, Gustavsson stopped 32 of 35 against the Marlies and added two more NHL wins to boot, stopping 67 of 71 in those games.

Despite a subpar .893 in the NHL this year, Gustavsson has been solid in his last two starts, and will likely play in one more game with Ottawa this season, before returning to Belleville for what will hopefully be a long playoff run.

Silver Linings:

  • Egor Sokolov was a big part of Belleville’s recent clinching effort, with 3 assists in 3 games, to bring the 2020 2nd-rounder to 48 points in 63 games.
  • Another player who went point-per-game this week was 2020 6th-rounder Philippe Daoust, who added three assists to his new total of 42 points in 35 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs. The QMJHL regular season will conclude on May 1st, and the Sea Dogs have already qualified for the playoffs, and are likely to have favourable matchups in the first few rounds, as they’re currently ranked third in the league.
  • Leevi Meriläinen continued his trend of winning hockey games regardless of save percentage. A .957 in Game 1 was fantastic, but the Kingston Frontenacs are strong enough to work with a .892 as well, as they did in Game 2. They’re up 2-0 on Oshawa in their first-round series.
  • Shane Pinto won’t be taking part in any of Ottawa’s three remaining games, but he filled in on the fourth line yesterday, in a regular jersey. Depending on how far Belleville goes in the playoffs, we could see him in action before the start of next season./

Stats:

Pro (NHL, AHL)

----Sincethelastprospectupdate-|-TOTAL-
PLAYERPOSAGELEAGUEGPGAPPIMSOGSH%|GPGAPPIMSOGSH%
Jacob Bernard-DockerRD21AHL3011050%|5727922603%
Jacob Bernard-DockerRD21NHL0000000%|8011460%
Erik BrännströmLD22AHL0000000%|912310215%
Erik BrännströmLD22NHL3011050%|500131328810%
Philippe DaoustC20AHL0000000%|150554130%
Maxence GuénetteRD20AHL2011030%|486131945711%
Parker KellyC22NHL32134922%|387512454416%
Parker KellyC22AHL0000000%|33591434658%
Shane PintoC21NHL0000000%|5011250%
Jonathan AspirotLD22AHL3011620%|465131852697%
Angus CrookshankLW/C22AHL0000000%|0000000%
Roby JärventieC/LW19AHL3000240%|69112233421249%
Mark KastelicC/RW23NHL22025367%|1322412540%
Mark KastelicC/RW23AHL22020367%|631414288711812%
Cole ReinhardtLW22AHL31012714%|691415296012211%
Cole ReinhardtLW22NHL000000100%|1000210%
Zach SenyshynRW/LW25AHL2011070%|150330250%
Egor SokolovRW/LW21AHL3033090%|631929482216911%
Egor SokolovRW/LW21NHL0000000%|8000480%
Lassi ThomsonRD21AHL31010520%|43101626528312%
Lassi ThomsonRD21NHL0000000%|160552180%
Viktor LodinLW22AHL3314040%|95272110%

NCAA

-----Sincethelastprospectupdate-|-TOTAL-
PLAYERPOSAGETEAMGPGAPPIMSOGSH%|GPGAPPIMSOGSH%
Tyler BoucherRW19Boston University0000000%|17213342110%
Tyler KlevenLD20Univ. of North Dakota0000000%|38731093809%
Luke LoheitRW21Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth0000000%|3424634484%
Jakov NovakLW/C23Northeastern Univ.0000000%|398917286413%
Jake SandersonLD19Univ. of North Dakota0000000%|238182666612%
Jonny TychonickLD22Univ. of Omaha0000000%|2426819336%

CHL

------Sincethelastprospectupdate-|-TOTAL-
PLAYERPOSAGETEAMLEAGUEGPGAPPIMSOGSH%|GPGAPPIMSOGSH%
Tyler BoucherRW19OttawaOHL0000000%|24771422809%
Tyler BoucherRW19Ottawa (Playoffs)OHL31124128%|31124128%
Ridly GreigC/LW19BrandonWHL0000000%|392637639218014%
Ridly GreigC/LW19Brandon (Playoffs)WHL2000450%|2000450%
Carson LatimerRW19Edmonton/Prince AlbertWHL0000000%|621822402614512%
Carson LatimerRW19Prince Albert (Playoffs)WHL2000010%|2000010%
Zach OstapchukC18VancouverWHL0000000%|602617435818414%
Zach OstapchukC18Vancouver (Playoffs)WHL2044010%|2044010%
Ben RogerRD19London/KingstonOHL0000000%|551121339681%
Ben RogerRD19Kingston (Playoffs)OHL2011020%|2011020%
Chandler RomeoLD18Hamilton/SarniaOHL0000000%|6721618100832%
Chandler RomeoLD18Sarnia (Playoffs)OHL2000210%|2000210%
Philippe DaoustC20Saint JohnQMJHL3033040%|35212142107130%

Europe

------Sincethelastprospectupdate-|-TOTAL-
PLAYERPOSAGETEAMLEAGUEGPGAPPIMSOGSH%|GPGAPPIMSOGSH%
Vitaly AbramovLW/RW23Chelyabinsk/MoscowKHL0000000%|458917286612%
Vitaly AbramovLW/RW23MoscowKHL (playoffs)3112030%|1954962520%
Olle AlsingLD25Nur-SultanKHL0000000%|43281014693%
Olle AlsingLD25Nur-SultanKHL (playoffs)0000000%|5011090%
Eric EngstrandLW21MalmöSHL0000000%|41731023023%
Eric EngstrandLW21Troja/Ljungby IFAllsvenskan0000000%|1413427264%
Oliver JohanssonC/LW18Timrå IKJ20 Nationell0000000%|33192241128822%
Oliver JohanssonC/LW18Timrå IKJ20 Playoffs0000000%|21010617%
Oliver JohanssonC/LW18Timrå IKSHL0000000%|140000160%
Viktor LodinC/LW22Timrå IKSHL0000000%|441215274511510%
Viktor LodinC/LW22Timrå IKSHL Playoffs0000000%|40114100%

Goalies

-----Sincethelastprospectupdate--|-TOTAL--
PLAYERAGETEAMLEAGUEGPWLOTLSOLSAGASV%|GPWLOTLSOLSAGASV%
Filip Gustavsson23BellevilleAHL1100035391.4%|19106124964391.3%
Filip Gustavsson23OttawaNHL2200071494.4%|17511105445889.3%
Kevin Mandolese21BellevilleAHL00000000.0%|1795004634690.1%
Kevin Mandolese21AtlantaECHL00000000.0%|614101911691.7%
Leevi Meriläinen19KingstonOHL00000000.0%|53311641155316989.1%
Leevi Meriläinen19Kingston (Playoffs)OHL2200060591.7%|2200060591.7%
Mads Søgaard21BellevilleAHL2110052884.6%|351914109989290.8%
Mads Søgaard21OttawaNHL00000000.0%|2110054688.9%

Playoff Update:

  • WHL Round 1: Winnipeg vs Prince Albert (Carson Latimer) - WPG leads 2-0
  • WHL Round 1: Red Deer vs Brandon (Ridly Greig) - Series tied 1-1
  • WHL Round 1: Everett vs Vancouver (Zack Ostapchuk) - Series tied 1-1
  • OHL Round 1: Windsor vs Sarnia (Chandler Romeo) - WSR leads 2-0
  • OHL Round 1: North Bay vs Ottawa (Tyler Boucher) - NB leads 3-0
  • OHL Round 1: Kingston (Leevi Merilainen, Ben Roger) vs Oshawa - KGN leads 2-0
  • KHL Finals: Moscow (Vitaly Abramov) vs Magnitogorsk - MMG leads 3-1/

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