Ottawa Senators Prospect Update: December 5 to 11

Colin seems to always get the high-scoring weeks; Belleville only played one game and the prospects put up zeroes. However, some players returned from injuries and an NCAA defender who we haven’t featured before had a big week, so we have a bit to talk about!

Stats Sheet

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Biggest Standouts

Kelly Summers

An Ottawa Valley native, Summers makes his first appearance in this section after a four assist week propelled his point totals to 15 points in 19 games. With his previous three season-ending point totals listed at 10, 14, and 17 (all with 33+ games played), Summers is on pace to crush his career high.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Clarkson is 8-0-0 against ECAC opponents this season and a sparkling 15-3-1 overall. With 63 goals for, only Union (59) is within 10 goals of the high-flying Golden Knights (huh!) offence.

Summers is a big part of that. He anchors the top-pair with Flyers fifth round pick (2013) and fellow senior Terrance Amorosa, a player with 16 points as his career high, and together, the duo are tied for 11th in league (!) scoring, behind four other Clarkson players.

Kelly Summers is riding a 3 game point streak after a PPA in Clarkson's 3-1 win over St. Lawrence 🍎

Summers' 13 Points (2G, 11A) in 18GP have him on pace to blow past his previous high of 17 Points in 39GP. pic.twitter.com/K9XU3mCpbX

— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) December 9, 2017

Summers 1.58 shots per game is similar to previous years, so it’s likely that his point totals have increased linearly with team quality. That being said, as a right-shot defender, Summers fills a need in the Sens system and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get some games in Belleville at the end of his season.

Silver Linings

• The Sens featured Gabriel Gagne on their website, and the post contains some interesting quotes from Gagne, Lee, and Kleinendorst.
• Christian Wolanin continued to put up points, and now has 16 points in 19 games (one more than Summers). He was featured in UND’s Fighting Hawks magazine and in an “Inside NCHC” video with goaltender Cam Johnson.
• He also continues to dazzle in the shootout.
• Over in WJC news: Team Canada had their first practice this morning and if lines are any indication, it looks like Alex Formenton is a more likely bet to make the team than Drake Batherson. Formenton is lined up alongside scoring stars Jordan Kyrou (STL) and Sam Steel (ANA) while Batherson is with Jonathan Ang (FLA) and Tanner Kaspick (STL).
• We’ve talked about Batherson, Formenton, and Nurmi, but no Sens prospect is going to get a higher profile role than Logan Brown, who’s projected as USA’s number one centre alongside top picks Kailer Yamamoto (EDM) and Casey Middlestadt (BUF). Brown missed last week due to a bad flu, and had three points in two games this week.
• In other injury news, Shane Eiserman is back after missing six games. Like Summers and Wolanin, Eiserman is looking to turn pro this season and although he has 6 points in 9 games, he’s going to need to have a big rest of the year to earn a contract. Defender Miles Gendron (UConn) is in a similar boat.
• Filip Ahl is playing for his third team this season, but is finally getting some ice-time. Consequently, he’s been producing — three points in five games. Canucks prospect Jonathan Dahlen (this still breaks my heart) currently leads the league with 1.16 points per game, but top scorers are usually around 0.7-0.8. Look for Ahl to try and match that. /