Ottawa Senators Prospect Update - March 19th

I cannot despite my best efforts find the words to express my disdain and loathing for Montreal and Marty St. Louis's goddamn team. Every winning streak has to come to an end. Ottawa still has their path to the postseason clearly in sight ahead of them. I still share the venom of all of our readers and eagerly anticipate the next batch of haterade. Until we get that redemption, let's see what the Senators' prospects have gotten up to for the past two weeks.

Starting with Ottawa's two goaltending prospects, Kevin Reidler didn't see any action since our last update. I still feel really torn because I get the impression that Omaha knows what they're doing with their goalies given their success this season but man I would really like to see Reidler get more minutes. Vladimir Nikitin by save percentage had a mediocre stretch, giving up three goals in both of his games since we last checked in, but also Nanaimo won both of those games so I still consider Nikitin's return to North America a complete success this season.

Over in Europe, Oliver Johansson had another unremarkable stretch, and I don't imagine the organization tenders him an ELC this summer, thus granting him free agency. Eerik Wallenius has really puzzled me this season from a strong start to an unremarkable lull since the holidays. At the same time, I have so little information at my disposal that I don't have any confidence making any sort of judgement. I look forward to next season when we have more visibility regarding Wallenius' development because some folks seemed to consider Wallenius a good draft pick.

In the OHL, it looks like the Kitchener Rangers may have lost captain Matthew Andonovski to injury right when it seems the stalwart defender had found his offensive groove this season. I imagine the Rangers first and foremost want such a core player healthy for the postseason. Andonovski's teammate, Luke Ellinas (who missed substantial time with injury earlier in the season) has also gotten into a bit of a groove with four points over his past four games. Ellinas has shot the puck plenty this season and seems to have suffered from unlucky on-ice results. Much like Andonovski, Gabriel Eliasson recently managed to get his penalty minutes under control after rocketing to the top of the league in PIM. I imagine coaches want their defenders getting the memo about discipline heading in the playoff stretch. The Colts have sealed up their division.

Our old friend Tomas Hamara has cooled off a little bit with just one point in his last five games but at least he continues to shoot the puck, and Brantford looks poised to win their division with eight wins in their last ten games. Blake Montgomery has likewise slowed down his pace somewhat with three points in his last seven games but London will finish the regular season with the best record in the OHL so I don't think anyone should sweat that too much. Out west, it looks like the divisional race will come down to the wire for Carter Yakemchuk and Calgary with Medicine Hat currently one win ahead in the standings. Calgary has become one of the best defensive teams in the WHL and Yakemchuk has scored well enough for a defender, if not quite at the rate we would expect given his draft pedigree.

Owen Beckner still stands out as one of the best surprises and biggest gainers in the Senators' prospect pool this season adding three more points in his past five games for Colorado College. It doesn't take much to stand out in this current group but Beckner deserves some recognition nonetheless. It seems really difficult to rack up points as an NCAA freshman. Tyson Dyck has also strung together a few good weeks recently after a lifetime of afterthought. I don't know that Dyck has done enough for Ottawa to ever sign him but he could at least elevate to AHL status if he keeps trending this way.

A couple of Ottawa's tournament-bound defenders seem headed in different directions as Cornell's Hoyt Stanley had a solid two points and three shots in three games by Ohio State's Theo Wallberg registered just one shot in two games. Cam O'Neill registered his first assist of the season (it's almost April) and now sits one point behind teammate Nick Van Tassell (who has four points on the season by the way). In the USHL, Filip Nordberg outscored teammate Javon Moore with two goals and an assist Sioux Falls' last four games. Nordberg may have just had his best month since the Sens drafted him in the second round a couple years ago. To Moore's credit, he still shot the puck a lot, he just hasn't had much luck in his first season as a Senators prospect (nothing I would worry about long-term though).