Nikolas Matinpalo

May 2023 – Matinpalo signed with Ottawa on a two-way contract for the 2023-2024 season. The 24-year-old played with Assat in the Liiga last season and in 41 games had seven goals and nine assists. He was invited to play for Finland at the 2023 World Championships and in seven games had a goal, two assists and was a plus-five. Matinpalo did see some time on the power play with Assat and possesses good distribution skills and a decent wrist shot. His strength should be without the puck as he has good gap control and a good active stick when defending the rush or down low. The Senators will look for Matinpalo as depth on their own blueline as a sixth or seventh defender or in Belleville in the top-four. There are some similarities between Artem Zub and Matinpalo as far as both being undrafted and brought to North America at around the same age. Grant Campbell