Ottawa Senators Top 25 Under 25 2024, #12: Jorian Donovan

Last Year: 19, Reader Rank: 15

Jorian Donovan was selected 136th overall in the 5th round of the 2022 draft, and as the son of Ottawa Senators alumni and staff member Shean Donovan, he looked like a nice story but perhaps not a very noteworthy prospect. However, in the two years since being drafted, the defenseman has steadily been improving his game and making more of a name for himself—regardless of who his father is. He comes in at #12 on our list, jumping seven spots compared to last year.

Donovan has had to move around a lot over the past few seasons, as the Hamilton Bulldogs moved to Brantford for the 2023-24 season, and he was also traded from Brantford to the Saginaw Spirit halfway through last season. Furthermore, he played in two AHL games in Belleville in the 2022-23 season and played for Team Canada in the World Junior Championships in 2024. Despite playing in so many different home cities over the past two seasons, he's been able to improve his stock and get people intrigued.

The 2022-23 season was a big offensive outburst for him where he had 45 points in 55 games in Hamilton. That looks even more impressive when you consider the Bulldogs were not an offensive team as their leading point scorer had just 56 points, which put Donovan fifth on the team. That draft+1 season put his name on the map, as his name was being brought up for Team Canada. He continued that impressive play the following season where he split time between Brantford (formerly Hamilton) and Saginaw.

In 34 games with Brantford, he had a whopping 28 points (including nine goals), but the Bulldogs dealt him to Saginaw for eight draft picks on January 8th, which turned out to be amazing for Donovan. What's interesting is the Bulldogs were comfortably a playoff team, but the Spirit had much higher aspirations and lost in the OHL Western Conference Finals to the eventual champions, the London Knights. Saginaw had a second crack at winning though because they hosted the Memorial Cup. They were up 3-0 in the Finals trying to get revenge on London, blew the lead in the third period, but then Donovan was one of the heroes as he assisted on the game-winning goal by Josh Bloom with just 21.7 seconds left to give the Spirit a Memorial Cup championship on home ice:

That Spirit team had some excellent players like Zayne Parekh, Michael Misa, Hunter Haight, Owen Beck, Rodwin Dionicio, Josh Bloom, and others, making it easy for Donovan to succeed, but that also gave him less ice time. I'm sure he was fine with that trade-off for a championship. He ended up with 18 points in 32 games for Saginaw, and 13 points in 22 playoff games (including the Memorial Cup), which is still not bad, but nearly as good as when he was the clear number one defenseman. Looking beyond the point totals, Scott Wheeler at The Athletic outlines how Donovan was a huge key to success for the Spirit, as his GM Dave Drinkill called him the MVP of the playoffs and one of the best two-way defensemen in the CHL.

Within that story, Spirit head coach had this to say about Donovan's character:

“(He made a) huge impact on the ice with his play and what he brings as a player, but this kid off of the ice is unique in every which way and honestly such an infectious personality. I love hanging out with him. I love being around him. He’s just such a good dude. He just finds ways to get guys galvanized together."

That certainly fits the Senators' M.O. as they love to prioritize good makeup, and it seems like Donovan would be a welcomed addition to the team down the line.

Donovan also represented Team Canada at the WJC in 2024, although he was held pointless in five games as he was originally cut from the team but then added back after injuries on the roster. Still though, it's always impressive for any player to make Team Canada. Moving forward, he will play in Belleville for the 2024-25 season, and unless there are a ton of injuries and/or Donovan takes a big leap forward, I expect him to stay in the AHL for the whole season. As a 20-year-old defenseman, I wouldn't rush him at all, so he can take his time.

He has more upside than a good number of Senators prospects, especially defensemen, because he can play well at both ends of the ice, so that's what makes him exciting. I wouldn't expect a stud defenseman in a year or two, but he's got the potential to be a solid NHLer. We'll see how he adjusts to playing against adults because that can take time for defensemen. It's great to see that he has made a name for himself as a real prospect and he's not just going this far because of his last name.