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Welcome to the September edition of the DobberProspects 32-in-32 Series. This month, we explore each organization in depth, examining its recent graduates, risers, fallers, and top-20 prospects. 

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By: Naftali Clinton

One of the many ironies of the Pierre Dorion era in the Nation’s Capital was that as a self-professed “scout at heart”, he left the Senators’ prospect cupboards nearly bare when he unceremoniously left the team during the 2023-24 season.

In yet another irony, the very fact that he failed to build a playoff team in Ottawa caused them to crash and burn last year…thus netting them the seventh-overall pick in the draft and helping restock the cupboards.

This year was the first NHL Draft for new Senators’ general manager Steve Staios. He made various moves in the off-season, but the draft itself was largely uneventful. The biggest move related to the draft actually took place during the 2024 Stanley Cup final when Staios shipped the 25th overall pick and other assets for Boston Bruins’ netminder Linus Ullmark.

Staios made six selections in the draft, including three in the fourth round. The most important of which was, of course, Carter Yakemchuk who was selected seventh-overall. The Sens’ GM was able to improve the pipeline and time will tell if his picks will bear fruit or not.

The Senators still have one of the lesser prospect pools in the NHL but it won’t matter much if this current core of NHLers is able to become a perennial playoff team.

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Graduating Players

From Minors to NHL

Tyler Kleven, D, played most of last season in the AHL but is all but penciled in on the third-pairing in Ottawa this year. He will play alongside either one of Jacob Bernard-Docker/Travis Hamonic or possibly Calen Addison if he earns a contract of his PTO. He probably will not be much of a fantasy factor but should get a decent amount of hits.

Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, played nearly the entire last season in the NHL and is slated to be at the very least the seventh defenseman on this year’s Senators’ team. His role is less defined than Kleven and he is more susceptible to being pushed out of the lineup by another RHD in the system. As of right now, he will most likely be on the bottom-pairing to start the season. He will probably have a similar fantasy output to Kleven, just with fewer hits.

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From Minors to NHL (Fringe)

Zack Ostapchuk, C, had a very solid AHL rookie season last year, putting up 17 goals and a plus four rating with the Belleville Senators. There is no guarantee of him having a full-time spot in Ottawa this year but he is in the mix, especially if there are injuries up front.

Angus Crookshank, W, has been fantastic in the AHL over the last couple of years. He had a 13-game stint in Ottawa last year and Ostapchuk should be in the mix for a bottom-six spot on the Senators’ this year. He has been in the Senators system for over six years so this might be the make or break year for him. Put up nearly a point-per-game with Belleville last year, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to translate that to the NHL.

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From Junior/College to Pro

Stephen Halliday, C, has up until recently been the most underrated prospect in the Senators’ system and could very well challenge for the fourth-line center role in the NHL as soon as this year. He put up around a point-per-game with Ohio State University over the last two season and will suit up for the Belleville Senators this year if he doesn’t crack the NHL lineup.

Tomas Hamara, D, suited up for one game in Belleville last year after completing his season with the Brantford Bulldogs in the OHL. The 20-year-old defenseman will look to earn a full-time role with the B-Sens this year and if things go right for him he could make his way up the depth chart over the next couple of seasons.

Jorian Donovan, D, will also attempt to make the leap from the OHL to the AHL this season. He has more of an offensive flare than fellow LHD prospect Hamara but both will have to compete for a spot on the Belleville Senators’ blueline.

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Risers

Tyler Kleven, D, was a controversial pick when he was selected in the second-round of the 2020 NHL Draft. Since then he has steadily impressed everyone who watches him play with his physicality and presence on the ice. At this time next year, he probably won’t even be considered a prospect anymore.

Stephen Halliday, C, went from being a relative nobody playing in college to a serious contender to be one of 12 forwards on the opening night roster in Ottawa. If that does not happen, he will likely have a top-six role in Belleville and could put up 40-50 points over a full season in the AHL.

Max Guenette, D, is a quiet player but he gets results. He was originally a seventh-round pick in 2019 but has become a stable two-way defender on the Belleville Senators’ backend. He has put up 93 points in 178 AHL games over the last three seasons and played eight games in the NHL.

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Fallers

Tyler Boucher, W, still has potential to be a Tom Wilson-esque agitator at some point but the last few years since he was drafted have not been easy on him. He has sustained numerous injuries and has not been able to put up much production in the games he’s played. Boucher needs to have a strong and healthy season this year to stop the slide down the Sens’ depth chart.

Cole Reinhardt, W, has been overtaken on the depth chart by multiple players over the last year or two and hasn’t really done much to improve his case. He is a solid middle-six winger on Belleville and will likely stay that way for the time being. He showed promise to be a potential fourth-line grinder in the NHL but now there doesn’t appear to be any path for him in the Sens system.

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Organizational Depth Chart

(Combination of NHL readiness and upside)

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Angus Crookshank	Zack Ostapchuk	Tyler Boucher
Javon Moore	Stephen Halliday	Cameron O’Neill
Cole Reinhardt	Xavier Bourgeault	Nicholas Van Tassel
Blake Montgomery	Oskar Pettersson
Lucas Ellinas	Wyatt Bongiovanni
	Phillipe Daoust
	Owen Beckner
	Jamieson Rees
	Tyson Dyck

 

LHD	RHD
Tyler Kleven	Carter Yakemchuk
Tomas Hamara	Jacob Bernard-Docker
Matthew Andonovski	Max Guenette
Jorian Donovan	Nikolas Matinpalo
Gabriel Elliasson	Hoyt Stanley
Donovan Sebrango	Djibril Toure
Filip Nordberg
Theo Wallberg
Eerik Wallenius
Filip Roos

 

Goaltending

Mads Sogaard

Leevi Merilainen

Kevin Reidler

Vladimir Nikitin

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Top 20 Fantasy Prospects

This section is intended to paint a picture of the Islanders prospects whose current trajectory projects them making the most positive fantasy impact at the time that they reach the NHL. Arrival date and NHL certainty have been taken into consideration; however, potential upside is the most important factor in determining this list.

1. Carter Yakemchuk
2. Mads Sogaard
3. Tyler Kleven
4. Zack Ostapchuk
5. Jacob Bernard-Docker
6. Tyler Boucher
7. Xavier Bourgeault
8. Angus Crookshank
9. Stephen Halliday
10. Leevi Merilainen
11. Max Guenette
12. Matthew Andonovski
13. Javon Moore
14. Tomas Hamara
15. Gabriel Elliasson
16. Hoyt Stanley
17. Blake Montgomery
18. Lucas Ellinas
19. Donovan Sebrango
20. Nikolas Matinpalo

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Rookie Tournament

The Senators took part in the annual rookie tournament this year, in Buffalo. They lost all three games, to the New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively. They were outscored in those three games 17-4 for a goal differential of -13. Yakemchuk and Halliday picked up a goal each and Elliasson was able to showcase his physically but besides that it was a largely forgettable tournament for the Sens prospects.

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Naftali Clinton