Welcome back to the Ottawa Senators Prospect Report, where we look at some of the best performances from prospects in the system over the past month. It’s been a frustrating start to the 2023-24 season; the Ottawa Senators sit last in the Atlantic Division with a 6-7-0 record, while the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Belleville Senators put up a 3-3 record through October, placing them in the bottom half of the league. With few high-end prospects left in the system, it’s been hard to stay optimistic about how long the team’s playoff window will remain open.
But last month proved that the Senators don’t need high-profile players in their system to prove their organizational depth. Many of the best performances came from late-round selections and lesser-known prospects, which makes the future seem more secure. That’s especially true in net, where we will start our journey through Ottawa’s depth chart with Mads Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen, who have been practically unbeatable.
Belleville’s Goalie Tandem Are Nearly Perfect
Sogaard had every reason to be frustrated heading into this season. After dressing for 19 NHL games last season and posting a middling .889 save percentage (SV%), he was sent back to the AHL after Ottawa spent big bucks on Joonas Korpisalo. Yet, the 6-foot-7 Dane has taken 2023-24 in stride with a fantastic start. Last month, he was one of the best goalies in the league, posting a 3-1-0 record with a 1.79 goals-against average (GAA) and a .944 save percentage (SV%), earning him the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month award. The five-game stretch saw him also post a 116:07 shutout streak between Oct 14-22.
There’s no question that Sogaard is one of the most deserving goalies to get a call-up. Last season’s starter, Anton Forsberg, has a .833 SV% over five games, leaving Korpisalo to take on a heavier workload than anticipated. But with nearly $7 million tied up in Forsberg and Korpisalo, there’s little room to bring anyone else in. The one bright spot is that Sogaard was included in the Senators’ trip to Sweden, where he was granted third-goalie exemption status.
With Sogaard away from Belleville, the starting job falls to Merilainen, who has also been nearly unbeatable this season. He started the season with the ECHL’s Allen Americans, playing just one game before he was re-assigned to the AHL on Oct 28. In his 2023-24 debut, he made 32 saves and held on to push the B-Sens into overtime before they lost 3-2 to the Toronto Marlies. That’s been his only loss this season; in his next two appearances, he made 64 saves and allowed just three goals, which earned him an AHL Three-Star nomination on Nov 13.
Merilainen’s AHL career record is now 5-0-1 with one shutout, a .937 SV%, and a 1.99 goals-against average (GAA). That puts him ahead of Yaroslav Askarov, Jesper Wallstedt, and Sebastien Cossa, all of whom were drafted much higher than his third-round selection, as well as Dustin Wolf, who has been one of the league’s best goalies over the past four seasons. That’s almost too good to be true, especially after he was practically an unknown heading into the 2020 Draft. With Sogaard away for the next few games, Merilainen will have an excellent opportunity to challenge for the starting spot.
Toure Shows Off Scoring Touch
Djibril Toure was one of the best stories of the preseason. An undrafted 20-year-old, he was invited to rookie camp, then brought back to the team’s main camp on an amateur try-out deal before being signed to an entry-level contract. While he could have joined the Belleville Senators in the AHL, the team sent him back down to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) to finish his junior career with the Sudbury Wolves. Now the 6-foot-7 defender is proving he might be a diamond in the rough.
Toure has appeared in just six games this season, but he already has two goals, tying him for first among Wolves defencemen. Nolan Collins, who he’s tied with, reached the same goal total over 16 games. It’s an impressive pace for the defensive defender, and if he keeps it up, he could finish with 19 goals and 29 points, which would place him second on the team behind fellow 20-year-old Andre Anania. But his scoring touch has not come at the expense of his toughness. In six games, he already has 13 penalty minutes, a pace that could give him not only the team lead at the end of the season but one of the highest totals in the OHL.
Wallberg & Halliday Lead Ohio
Heading to Ohio State University, another pair of Senators’ prospects are making noise. Defenceman Theo Wallberg and center Stephen Halliday sit tied for first in scoring with a goal and eight points each. Last season, Halliday led the Buckeyes as a freshman with 41 points in 40 games and was added to the shortlist for the Rookie of the Year. This season, he picked up right where he left off, putting up a three-game point streak during which Ohio was undefeated. The points have been a bit tougher to come by lately – he’s scored four in his last eight games – but he continues to earn top-six minutes and take plenty of shots each game.
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Meanwhile, freshman Wallberg has stepped up. He was by no means a top producer last season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, finishing his first North American campaign with 22 points in 60 games. But this year, he’s become a bit of a playmaker. In his first game with the Buckeyes, he put up three assists. Since then, the defenceman has not gone more than a single game without recording a point. A reliable defensive presence, he’s been a mainstay on the second pairing thanks to his emergent offensive prowess, giving Ohio State a solid two-way presence who can block shots and put up points.
Reidler Makes Quick Adjustment to North America
Moving from Europe to North America is a big adjustment for many players, and goalie Kevin Reidler looked a bit overwhelmed when he suited up for the United States Hockey League (USHL) for the first time back in September. In his first appearance, he made 31 saves in a 7-6 overtime loss to the United States Development Program team.
However, that was all Reidler needed to get things under control; in his next two starts, he stopped 50 of 55 shots, recorded a 1-0-1 record, and started to display some confidence in and around the net. He locked things down the following weekend, posting two wins and a shutout and earned his second consecutive Goalie of the Week honours. Only seven goalies have appeared in 10 or more games this season in the USHL, and among them, Reidler’s .900 SV% ranks fourth. He’s also faced at least 30 shots in all but four of his 13 games so far.
Players to Watch:
- After nearly making the Senators’ final roster, Maxence Guenette has quietly put together a team-leading 10 points in 11 games with Bellville, including a five-game point streak that saw him score seven points. He has just one goal on the season so far, but the seventh-round pick is pushing hard for a call-up.
- Matthew Andonovski is off to a promising start this season with the Kitchener Rangers after the Senators selected him in the fifth round of the 2023 Draft. In 19 games, he has two goals and eight points, along with 31 penalty minutes and an impressive plus-20. It’s helped that he’s been playing on the top pairing alongside Hunter Brzustewicz, who leads the OHL in points among defencemen, but not everyone could keep pace with such a player.
- Sticking in the OHL, Jorian Donovan has been on fire lately, putting up 15 points in 17 games with the Brantford Bulldogs. He managed to sneak into two AHL games last season, but with the current logjam on defence, he was returned to junior, where he has emerged as one of the best two-way defencemen in the league.
- Another seventh-round pick, Owen Beckner, has looked promising so far, posting 11 points in 16 games as a rookie in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm. He’s been described as an NHL-calibre athlete, and he seems to have fully recovered from his offseason hernia surgery. The 6-foot-2 center is committed to Colorado College next season.
- Oliver Johansson’s two goals and three points don’t jump off the page, but that’s a pretty decent start for a 20-year-old in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He sits tied for 17th among all players under 21 in the league and is earning regular playing time on the third line. This could be a big year for the Senators’ 2021 third-rounder.
That’s it for this month’s issue of Senatos’ Prospect Report! Despite the team’s poor record, there’s a lot to be excited about and a few names to keep an eye on. If they can keep up their current pace, Ottawa is going to have more than a couple of difficult decisions in the future, which are the best problems to have.