Although Thomas Chabot had previously been ruled out for the season with a fractured hand, there was some hope that the Senators could get their top defenseman back for a game or two before the year comes to an end. That will indeed be the case as TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that Chabot took the morning skate and will return to the lineup tonight against Montreal.
The 25-year-old has had another impressive season on Ottawa’s back end, collecting 34 points in 55 games and he still leads the team in points by defensemen despite missing 22 contests. More importantly for them, he has logged heavy minutes once again, averaging 26:23 minutes per game to lead the NHL, the third straight season that he has reached the 26-minute mark in ATOI, the only player in the league to do so. Even though the games will be meaningless in the standings, his return will certainly be a welcome one as a result.
It’s expected that Chabot, if healthy, will be asked to represent Team Canada at next month’s World Championships so these last few games will also serve as a testing ground to see if he’ll be good to go for that tournament. It would be his second time playing in that event having also played in it back in 2019.