Ottawa Senators Prospect Update: November 23rd

This week was a big one for the Ottawa Senators’ 2019 draft class. Largely carried by Shane Pinto up to this point, each of the five healthy players from that class stood out from the prospect pool over the last few days.

Forwards

Viktor Lodin

At first glance, Lodin’s rate of production doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement from last season — 11 points in 14 games so far, compared to 40 in 47. However, considering Timrå IK now plays in the SHL as opposed to the Allsvenskan, the level of competition is certainly tougher. In two games this week, he had 1 goal and 2 assists, with five shots on goal.

🚨Viktor Lodin ripped home his 4th of the season on Saturday, giving him a point in both games this weekend

Lodin now has 11 points in 14GP #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/zQUEKDoRha

— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) November 21, 2021

A fourth-rounder from 2019, Lodin is currently under contract with the Senators, who are loaning him to Timrå in the first year of his two-year entry-level deal. We may finally see him in North America starting next year.

Ridly Greig

The third of Ottawa’s first-round picks from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft has continued to be good, albeit not outstanding, in his fourth season of WHL hockey. Greig contributed a goal, an assist, and his trademark four shots on goal to help the Brandon Wheat Kings defeat the Moose Jaw Warriors by a 4-2 score on Friday.

🍎Ridly Greig grabbed assist #7 of the season on Friday night, giving him a point in back to back games #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/SHg3qLUvTu

— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) November 20, 2021

Mark Kastelic

Ottawa’s fifth-round selection from the 2019 draft continues to impress, as he’s been featured here in multiple weeks. In a 5-2 Belleville victory over Laval on Saturday, Kastelic had the same stat line as Greig — a multi-point effort with a decent impact on the shot clock. Kastelic is hoping to become one of the many depth players Ottawa will need to complement their core and become a decent team, and with 7 points in 14 games, he’s progressing nicely.

Defensemen

Lassi Thomson

Scoring your first NHL goal is a surefire way to stand out among your peers — Thomson almost had it against Colorado yesterday, but it doesn’t change the fact that he continues to be a valuable presence on the blue line. The assist on Sanford’s first of three on the night brings Thomson to two assists in four games.

First in the NHL for Lassi‼️#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/B7MT15Rvgt

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) November 23, 2021

In a game in which the Senators were outshot 40-21, Thomson had four shots on goal, and his 5-on-5 expected goals share of 36.59 percent — which is awful without context — was sadly the highest on the team.

Injuries have allowed Thomson to gain valuable experience on an NHL blueline, though it’s becoming difficult to justify not having him on the team even if the defense corps were fully healthy. The hockey gods knew the Senators would not survive the embarrassment of sending Thomson back to the AHL, and so Josh Brown was sacrificed accordingly.

Maxence Guenette

Speaking of scoring your first goal, here’s one that actually happened! Guenette, a seventh-round pick, and the only decent draft pick from Trent Mann’s class of 2019 according to many, took part in Belleville’s win by scoring his first professional goal on the power-play.

First professional goal for Maxence Guenette comes on the power play! 👏@BellevilleSens | #LAVvsBEL pic.twitter.com/da63XGiuJw

— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) November 21, 2021

With 2 points in 6 games thus far, Guenette is off to a modest start in the AHL. Don’t expect him to be NHL-ready for a couple more years, but looking at his development over the last two seasons, you can see a potential solution on the right side of Ottawa’s blueline.

Goaltending

Mads Søgaard

With this, five of Ottawa’s six selections (with the exception, of course, being the injured Shane Pinto) have appeared in today’s update. This one’s fairly straightforward — stopping 35 of 37 shots in that 5-2 victory is more than enough to earn honours as the organization’s best goalie this week. The team’s second of two second-round selections, Søgaard now has a 4-3 record and a .900 save percentage.

Silver Linings

• More than one forward got a point this week? Neat! Similar to Kastelic, Cole Reinhardt is a late Senators draft pick (2020, 7th round) who previously went undrafted twice, and has made the most of the opportunity given to him. With an assist on Saturday, he now has 7 points in 13 games.
• 2021 second-rounder Ben Roger had an assist this week, bringing the big blueliner’s total up to three assists in 17 games with the OHL’s London Knights. The Senators released an interview with Roger in which he discusses the defensive improvements in his game — there isn’t much else to talk about with that production, but hey, this is the amateur scouting team who passed on tons of forward talent to draft Jake Sanderson, who could end up being the best player in the draft, so they’ve earned a bit of rope there.
• Tyler Boucher, Ottawa’s recent tenth-overall selection, is looking more like a tenth-rounder as the days go by. In all seriousness, his two points in 13 games with Boston University hasn’t been nearly enough, and to make things worse, he also picked up a suspension for a hit on Friday against Northeastern University. Seeing how things haven’t worked out for Boucher this season, it may be worthwhile to sign him to his entry-level deal after his freshman year, and loan him to the Ottawa 67s, who hold his CHL rights./

Stats:

Pro (NHL, AHL)

NCAA

CHL

Europe

Goalies