Winger Olle Lycksell has been recalled by the Senators from AHL Belleville, according to a team announcement. They had an open roster spot after reassigning Hayden Hodgson to Belleville on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Lycksell has made six appearances across two previous stints on the active roster this season for the Sens. He was waived to begin the season but ended up making the opening night roster anyway. That lasted for a couple of weeks before he was eventually demoted to Belleville for the first time. Ottawa recalled him just a few days later, and he was back on the active roster for nearly a month until sustaining a concussion, putting him on injured reserve. When he was cleared to return in the later stages of November, Ottawa waived him again and sent him back to the B-Sens after he cleared.
Ottawa signed the 5’11” Swede as a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. A sixth-round pick of the Flyers in 2017, he’d remained in the Philly organization up until that point. He only arrived in North America in 2022, but has been a highly successful minor-league producer, notching 55 goals and 133 points in 142 games across four seasons. That includes a 3-2–5 scoring line in eight appearances for Belleville this year.
That production hasn’t carried over to the NHL, though. He’s not particularly physical and has often been miscast in a fourth-line role – skilled enough to provide scoring depth as an injury replacement, but not intriguing enough of a prospect to push for a top-nine minutes. As a result, he’s scored just two goals in 51 career NHL games, one of them coming this season.
Lycksell isn’t expected to play in tonight’s game against the Devils and looks to be in for another stint as an extra forward, per Claire Hanna of TSN. The Sens haven’t been shy about making frequent roster moves to keep their forward depth fresh this season. Lately, it’s been a rotation of Hodgson, Lycksell, and Stephen Halliday heading up and down to ensure no one is sitting in the press box for too long – serving a dual purpose of extending the former two’s waiver-exempt periods.