Welcome to the inaugural edition of a new weekly feature on Silver Seven: prospect updates! Every Tuesday, Ary and I will provide you with a detailed stats sheet, a detailed look of some of the past week’s standouts, as well as some extra notes on who to keep an eye on for the next little while.

Stats Sheet

(Click to enlarge)

Biggest Standouts

Drake Batherson

With Alex Formenton still hanging around the Sens’ main roster, and now with Batherson starting to torch up the QMJHL, things are looking bright for Pierre Dorion and co.’s 2017 draft haul.

Now over two weeks into the QMJHL season, Batherson’s nine points in seven games tie him for 12th in league scoring, while his six goals tie him for second. His 25 shots on goal also sneaks him into the top 20. He’s the hot hand of the Q at the moment, as he’s currently riding a five game goal streak. And it’s not like they’ve been gimmes either - watch a couple of them below.

Drake Batherson's 2nd of the #QMJHL season was a beauty🚨

He has been a game star in each of his first 3GP⭐️ (1st, 2nd, 3rd)

2G, 2A in 3GP pic.twitter.com/yGA2f5kIlM

— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) October 2, 2017

Drake Batherson. 4 game goal streak. Again, 1st star ⭐️

6GP - 5G, 2A on 22 SOG and 56.4% FOW pic.twitter.com/yLrPxTjAem

— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) October 8, 2017

He signed his entry-level contract this past week, and has been riding high ever since. His 24% shooting percentage may seem a bit high, although prior to this season he was still a career 21% shooter (22 goals on 105 shots). I doubt he ends up sustaining his current pace of 58 goals in 68 games, although his shooting talent is becoming very evident.

Parker Kelly

Another recent entry-level signing from the Sens, Parker Kelly was brought into the pipeline as an 18-year-old forward. The Sens don’t have a very good history of signing free agents out of the CHL, although if Kelly’s start is any indication of his future, he could be the one to buck the trend. His six points in five games is third on the Prince Albert Raiders, and 14th in the WHL in P/GP amongst players under 19. To top it off he’s also serving as an alternate captain.

Unlike Batherson, I’d expect Kelly’s shooting percentage to regress a lot more. Sitting at over 30% with significantly less shots per game, it could potentially be a product of some lucky bounces. Let’s see how long it can last.

Thomas Chabot

Spencer had nothing but positives for the Sens’ top prospect in his first two AHL games, as although the team ended up scoring only two goals, Chabot had a point on both of them. Now he’s been called up to the NHL along with Christian Jaros for the team’s west coast road trip, and with both Oduya and Harpur injured, the chances of seeing his season debut is very likely.

Looking at the current state of the Senators’ blue line, this could be Chabot’s opportunity to seize a full-time spot. Yesterday’s line combos in practice had him playing on his off-side next to Mark Borowiecki, so Guy Boucher is really not making things easy on the 20-year-old.

Silver Linings

• Filip Ahl had a slight inconvenience to the beginning of his season. He left the WHL to play against men in Sweden, although he was quickly demoted from the SHL to play in their U20 junior league. His three goals and four games got him called back up, although he’s since been played very minimally at the bottom of Örebro’s lineup.
• With Danny Taylor taking the reigns in Belleville, both Chris Driedger and Marcus Hogberg have yet to make their regular season debut. The former is injured, although the team won’t be able to carry four goalies for much longer. One netminder is owed to the Wichita Thunder as part of their unofficial partnership, although with some of Ottawa’s players being sent to Brampton (Montreal’s ECHL affiliate), it’s unknown whether the agreement is still in place. Wichita has more of an opening for a goaltender than Brampton, so my guess is the agreement will be fulfilled soon.
• If you don’t remember who Todd Burgess is, I don’t blame you. The Sens’ 4th round pick in 2016 missed all of last year with a knee injury, and missed a significant portion of development camp as well. He’s finally back on the ice and ready to go, with his first game with RPI taking place this Friday.
• It appears both Logan Brown and Alex Formenton will be joining the Senators on their west coast trip. Lots of rookie action to look forward to this week./