Ottawa Senators Prospect Update - March 5th

Thanks to that untimely five-game slide from your Ottawa Senators, the playoffs look like a coin-toss heading into the trade deadline. Will Steve Staios pull a rabbit out of the hat by Friday afternoon? Will the Sens benefit from a lighter schedule down the stretch? Will some of Ottawa's competition finally come crashing back down to earth? I hope so! In the meantime, Ottawa's prospects similarly aren't quite bad enough to cause panic but also it doesn't seem like all the parts are clinic when they really need to–how very Sens of them. Anyway, let's get to the summary.

Starting with the goalies because why not, Vladimir Nikitin kinda came back down to reality after an absurdly successful North American return. He still had a 91.5 save percentage and won one of his three starts for Nanaimo so I maintain that he made the right choice coming back to Canada. Kevin Reidler won his lone start (against Arizona State on Saturday) making 40 saves along the way. I guess it speaks to the strength of Omaha's goaltending that Reidler has gotten just five starts this far into the season, and while I wish he got more ice time, he has at least made the most of his limited opportunities.

Ottawa's two remaining prospects in Europe had mixed results since our last update. Oliver Johansson continues to languish on the fourth line in the SHL with zero counting stats to report over his last five games. Eerik Wallenius finally got back into the mix with two assists in his last four games. Wallenius had fallen into a real funk since his brief stint in Finland's professional league and it still surprises me that he didn't see an uptick in production back in junior, oh well.

In the USHL Sioux Falls teammates Javon Moore and Filip Nordberg both had decent stretches by their own very different standards. Nordberg added another assist and had more than a shot per game while only taking four minor penalties. Moore over the same five-game span had four assists and a whopping 21 shots on goal. At this point I don't know if I still expect to see Moore's shooting percentage rocket up any time soon but I look forward to seeing if Minnesota State and their coaching staff can tap into Moore's potential next season.

Around the collegiate circuit, Owen Beckner still leads the pack, now with 24 points in 32 games for Colorado College. To my surprise, Tyson Dyck ranks second with a dozen points in 34 games (low bar, I know) for the Badgers. Ottawa's defensive prospects also stood out in a good way with the only other points in NCAA hockey among those in the Sens' system. Hoyt Stanley had two assists and seven shots for Cornell over his last four games while Theo Wallberg had an assist and two shots for the Buckeyes over their last four contests. Minutemen Cam O'Neill and Nick Van Tassell combined for zero points and two shots over UMass' last four games (maybe that's What Makes a Man Start Fires?).

In good news, all of Ottawa's CHL prospects will play in the postseason and have a shot at the Memorial Cup. I don't have any bad news to add there. I just didn't know how to start the paragraph otherwise. Matthew Andonovski had a more point-heavy and less penalized string of games resembling his draft plus one season and I personally dig that. His teammate Luke Ellinas has returned from his lengthy absence and had a multi-point performance with six shots the Friday before last. Keep an eye on that guy down the stretch and in the postseason. Gabriel Eliasson also took slightly fewer penalties (two minors) and had more than a shot-per-game in his last six contests–what is going on here?!

Tomas Hamara had another five assists in his last five games and fifteen shots to continue his redemption season. I don't want to get too excited just yet but if Hamara has a decent showing in the postseason then the wagon is back in effect. Blake Montgomery has regressed as we should have expected with two points and seven shots in his last six games. He played at such a torrid pace to start his OHL career that he would always inevitable cool down. Let's hope he get back into his scoring habits when it matters most in the spring. And finally, Carter Yakemchuk had a modest (by his standards) five points and 24 shots in his last six games. I cautiously say he has recovered from whatever ailed him a few weeks ago.

Now speaking of Yakemchuk on deadline week, I can't in good conscience overlook the fact that if Ottawa intends on making a significant trade this week, and in the absence of a first-round pick, Yak's name will inevitably come up in trade talks. Other than that, I could certainly see Ottawa packaging a young netminder in a return for a significant investment (although more like Mads Søgaard than Nikitin or Reidler). Teams could inquire about Montgomery or Moore but I see those as less than blue chip prospects at this juncture. My wild card pick would be Eliasson.

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