Ottawa Senators Prospects Update: April 23nd

Hey, Belleville's in! Thanks to sweeping Laval back-to-back, the B-Sens (might as well be the A-Sens at this point) have secured a best-of-three wildcard series against the Toronto Marlies. Elsewhere, series continue in the USHL and CHL which means we have at least one more week of prospect content around the corner.

Forwards

Owen Beckner

One of three USHL prospects competing for the Clark Cup, Beckner played a big role in Tri-City's first-round victory over Sioux Falls, though the Storm are losing 1-0 to Fargo in their second-round series. Beckner tallied 3 goals and an assist in the 3 games he took part in this week.

Filip Nordberg and the Muskegon Lumberjacks are also taking part in USHL second-round action, and are tied 1-1 against Green Bay, with Game 3 taking place today. Nordberg has no points in 2 playoff games thus far.

Egor Sokolov

When the Belleville Senators needed a leader to step up on the final weekend of the season, with playoffs on the line, you can bet your sweet patootie it was Egor Sokolov taking centre stage. The Russian winger took a step back in overall production this season, but when the season was on the line, Sokolov potted three goals in Belleville's two wins to close out the 2023-24 campaign - and claim home ice advantage in their series against Toronto.

Wyatt Bongiovanni

Wyatt Bongiovanni was quietly shipped from the Winnipeg Jets organization to Ottawa at the trade deadline and his impact on the forward group was instantaneous. The 24 year old left shot flank had five goals and two assists in the final six games of the season, including a pair of goals and a helper over the weekend to, like Sokolov, lift the Senators to home ice advantage.

Defense

Matthew Andonovski

The 5th-round pick from 2023 closes out his postseason with 1 assist in 10 games, as the Kitchener Rangers were swept by the London Knights, dropping the final game on Thursday by a 4-3 score. Even so, Andonovski doubled his production from last season, with 32 points in 65 games.

Jorian Donovan

Donovan chipped in with an assist in the Saginaw Spirit's 3-2 win in Game 5 of their second-round series against the Soo Greyhounds but dropped the following game 5-0. Donovan has 6 points in 10 playoff games heading into today's deciding game.

Goaltending

Kevin Reidler

Despite benefitting immensely from the Dubuque Fighting Saints' goal support, Reidler is 1-1 despite allowing just 2 total goals against the Youngstown Phantoms. Game 3 of their best-of-5 series taking place today.

Thought I'd also shout out Mads Sogaard, who somehow has a better save percentage in the shootout, than Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg have in regular gameplay.

Belleville Update

The Belleville Senators are playoff bound. Ahead of their three game series against the Toronto Marlies, kicking off tomorrow evening at CAA Arena, we'll be posting a playoff primer later today. In it you'll see three reasons why each team could move forward, with a semi confident prediction from yours truly.

One of the biggest pieces of news for Belleville heading into the playoffs was the word that Ottawa has reassigned Angus Crookshank to Belleville after Crookshank had to miss some time with an upper body injury. Usually, a transaction like this doesn't take place if the player is still injured, so there's a good chance Belleville's All-Star winger will be back in the lineup, giving the team extra juice in their bid for their first series win in franchise history.

While Ottawa's season may be over, Belleville's is very much alive. The North Division is relatively close, top to bottom, with just eight points separating fifth (Toronto) from first (Cleveland). Belleville finished the season just six points back from the North's best. These upcoming series' are ripe for the taking.

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