Senators Recall Jorian Donovan, Carter Yakemchuk
The Senators’ push for the playoffs got a lot murkier despite last night’s defensive standout win over the Rangers. The two points cost them both Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson on the blue line, who, head coach Travis Green said, would miss multiple games with apparent right wrist injuries and undisclosed injuries, respectively. Ottawa was already without Dennis Gilbert, Nick Jensen, and Jake Sanderson on defense, so they would need to recall a pair of rearguards from AHL Belleville before tonight’s game against the Red Wings to have six healthy ones. Those two beneficiaries are Jorian Donovan and Carter Yakemchuk, the team announced Tuesday morning.
Both will be making their NHL debuts tonight. It comes right on schedule for Yakemchuk, who, at seventh overall in 2024, Ottawa hopes will be the last high pick of their years-long rebuild. The 6’4″, 207-lb righty was a physically dominant offensive threat in his draft year for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, leading the league in goals by a defenseman that year with 30.
Since then, Yakemchuk’s development has hit some speed bumps. His post-draft year with the Hitmen immediately raised some red flags as his offensive production took a step back from 1.08 points per game in 2023-24 to 0.88 in 2024-25, particularly concerning considering he was already one of the oldest players in his class. Those concerns have only persisted as he made the adjustment to professional life in Belleville this season. He’s slotted in as their top offensive weapon on the blue line as expected, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with a 10-26–36 line in 50 games, but that’s been accompanied by a team-worst -30 rating and some glaring concerns regarding his defensive play.
He’ll need to work on that moving forward to ensure he doesn’t top out as a third-pairing threat at even strength to limit his minutes while serving as a power-play quarterback for the Sens. For now, while everyone involved hoped it would be under better circumstances, he’ll at least get his first taste of NHL play this year while getting a chance to boost his shot at a roster spot next October with a strong run of play in the absence of Ottawa’s two top two-way threats on defense in Chabot and Sanderson.
Donovan is a more unheralded prospect but an intriguing talent nonetheless. A fifth-round pick in 2022, the 6’2″ lefty is now 21 years old in his second season with the B-Sens. He’s coming along nicely as a well-rounded two-way piece who can wash out opponents with ease, recording a 4-17–21 line in 58 outings this season with a -12 rating and 70 penalty minutes.
His development at this stage significantly outpaces the normal curve of a fifth-rounder. Donovan now ranks #5 in Ottawa’s prospect pool and is their top left-shot option in the system, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic opined this month. The Calgary native “has the tools to become a No. 5-8 D and play NHL games” with “pro size and excellent skating,” Wheeler wrote.
Senators’ Thomas Chabot, Lassi Thomson Out “For A While” With Injuries
Ottawa Senators defensemen Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson each left the team’s contest against the New York Rangers tonight with an injury, per an official announcement.
After the Senators’ victory over the Rangers in New York, head coach Travis Green told the media, including The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie, that both Chabot and Thomson will “be out for a while” as a result of their injuries. Green indicated the team would be recalling two defensemen from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, tomorrow.
The more significant name here is undoubtedly Chabot, who has been Ottawa’s No. 2 defenseman ever since the emergence of Jake Sanderson. TSN’s Claire Hanna reported that Chabot left the ice “in obvious pain” and was “clutching his right wrist” as he headed for the locker room at Madison Square Garden at the end of the first period.
Chabot was spotted after the game with a splint on his wrist, per TSN’s Steve Lloyd.
The main point of concern in Chabot’s case appears to be the fact that his injured wrist is the same wrist he had surgery on in 2024.
The timing of this news is very difficult for the Senators. The Senators ended their lengthy rebuild last season by making the playoffs for the first time since their famous run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2017. The expectation in the Ottawa market was that their postseason berth, which ended with a first-round defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was a sign of greater things to come. Ottawa has endured an uneven 2025-26 season, dealing with a litany of on and off-ice challenges.
Green, in his second year as head coach, has guided the team through those challenges and led them into a position where they could conceivably return to the playoffs. They have been on a bit of a run as of late, going 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, and are riding a three-game win streak. But they still sit two points behind the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and are one point behind the Detroit Red Wings as well.
Ottawa plays Detroit tomorrow, and has a match up against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a fellow Eastern Conference playoff hopeful, on Thursday. On Saturday, they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, and still have games against the Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, Carolina Hurricanes, and Islanders remaining, as well as a second game against Tampa Bay.
In short: their schedule is set to become extremely tough, full of contests the Senators are likely to classify as “must-win.” Because of today’s news, they’re set to play an indefinite number of their remaining games without Chabot, and Thomson.
Losing Chabot has a massive impact on the construction of the Senators’ defense. He plays 22:34 per night, including a notable role on both sides of special teams. He’s scored seven goals and 31 points in 55 games, which ranks second among the team’s blueliners and No. 8 in team scoring overall. With Sanderson sidelined since March 9, Chabot has assumed the role as the team’s No. 1 defenseman.
Sanderson has resumed skating, and is set to return in roughly a week. But his lingering absence means Ottawa will enter its aforementioned set of crucial games this week without their top two defensemen. How Green deployed his blueliners tonight in New York gives a hint as to how Ottawa’s defense might shape up with both Chabot and Sanderson sidelined.
Leading Senators blueliners in time on ice tonight was Jordan Spence, who played in 26:44. The fact that the Senators had seven power plays likely played a role here – Spence will be Ottawa’s top power play quarterback amidst these injuries, but is unlikely to play as much as others overall. No. 3 among team defensemen in ice time was Artem Zub, who skated 23:44. Zub has been the team’s No. 3 defenseman this season and a top penalty killer. He’ll likely receive an even greater workload while the team’s two defensive pillars are injured. Also set to receive a more substantial workload is Tyler Kleven, who played 24:30 tonight and has been Ottawa’s No. 5 defenseman this season, and a secondary penalty killer.
The Senators are also dealing with the week-to-week loss of veteran Nick Jensen to knee surgery, compounding their issues on the blueline. Green indicated the team would be recalling two defensemen from Belleville, and one of those two could be 2024 No. 7 overall pick Carter Yakemchuk. The 20-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut but has 10 goals and 36 points in 50 AHL games this season. Earlier this month, the Senators indicated they’d prefer to allow Yakemchuk to develop at his own pace at the AHL level, but the injuries that have piled up could force their hand.
Outside of Yakemchuk, the Senators do have some other options for a potential recall waiting in Belleville. 25-year-old Samuel Bolduc has played quite a bit since arriving in a trade from the Ontario Reign, and has four points in five games. He offers size (he stands 6’4″ 220 pounds) and has 52 games of NHL experience, all coming during his days with the New York Islanders. He could be an option.
2022 fifth-round pick Jorian Donovan is still waiting on the chance to make his NHL debut, but has developed into a top-four piece with legitimate penalty-killing utility in the AHL. He could get a shot in the NHL given the injuries Ottawa is dealing with, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team prioritize experience in their call-ups given just how important their upcoming games are.
While Chabot’s status as one of the team’s top defensemen means his injury is more notable for the Senators’ overall lineup construction, the implications are no less real for Thomson. Tonight was the 25-year-old’s first NHL game since 2022-23, but his night ended after just 4:25 time on ice. Thomson was lined up to be one of the real beneficiaries of the Senators’ injury situation, slated to get the chance to show off his talents in some high-stakes NHL contests.
For a player who spent last season in the SHL, and is a pending RFA, that was a massive opportunity. Now, as a result of Thomson’s injury, that opportunity may have slipped away.
Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Dennis Gilbert Leaves Game With Injury
Ottawa Senators defenseman Dennis Gilbert was forced out of last night’s contest with an apparent injury, one he suffered after being on the receiving end of a big hit by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Gilbert ended up down on the ice after Ekman-Larsson’s hit, and left the game shortly afterward without returning.
After the game, Senators head coach Travis Green told the media, including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, that Gilbert is set to miss some time as a result of the injury he suffered. His exact return timeline and status are still being evaluated. It’s an undoubtedly unfortunate break for Gilbert, a 29-year-old journeyman depth blueliner. He had played in five consecutive NHL games including last night, representing five of his six total NHL games played this season. As a result of the injury, it’s possible the pending UFA has already played in his final NHL game of the 2025-26 season.
Jake Sanderson Nearing Return
Larkin has missed Detroit’s last six games due to his leg injury. Although the team has gone 3-2-1 in that stretch, they’re entering crunch time for their postseason lives. Their upcoming schedule won’t give them any favors, with consecutive games against the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
- Another Atlantic Division team in the playoff hunt is the Ottawa Senators, who are also dealing with a significant injury to an important player. Like Larkin, defenseman Jake Sanderson has missed the last few weeks with the Senators, this time due to an upper-body injury. Similar to Detroit, Ottawa has played fine without Sanderson, but he objectively gives them a better chance to win each night. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, Sanderson is expected to return by the end of March or early April.
Senators’ Nick Jensen Undergoes Meniscus Surgery, Done For Regular Season
Nick Jensen‘s 2025-26 season is over, as Senators head coach Travis Green told reporters (including Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen) that the defender has undergone surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Carrying a six-week recovery time, he’s ruled out for the regular season. He could theoretically return past the first round if Ottawa manages to snag a wild-card berth – which is no guarantee – and they pull off an early upset.
Jensen, a pending UFA, has played his last regular-season game for Ottawa, Garrioch indicates. The organization has no plans to offer him a contract extension. Green doesn’t expect the surgery to be career-ending by any stretch for the 35-year-old, though. “I feel bad for him… We didn’t think originally it would end up going this way. It’s going to be best for him that he does the surgery, and he’ll be back to 100 per cent for sure.”
It’s not the only recent lower-body issue Jensen has had. He needed a hip procedure last offseason, which he underwent in May. That put his availability for the beginning of the regular season in doubt, but he managed to return in time. He had only missed three games this season prior to the meniscus tear last week against the Canadiens, all due to healthy scratches.
This has not been a kind year for the Minnesota native on the ice. Acquired from the Capitals in the 2024 Jakob Chychrun deal to give the Sens a top-four-capable right-shot shutdown option to pair with Thomas Chabot, he flourished last season but hasn’t looked like the same player in 2025-26. His average time on ice is down more than three minutes from 20:13 to 17:01, and his 0.62 hits per game are the lowest of his 10-year NHL career. He’s still managed a respectable 17 points in 61 games, but is controlling only 48.3% of shot attempts at 5-on-5, down from 50.6% last season.
He had nonetheless spent most of his time at even strength next to Chabot, although he also saw significant time in third-pairing deployment on his off side with fellow righty Nikolas Matinpalo. A good portion of his overall ice time reduction came from Jensen essentially being removed as a regular on Ottawa’s penalty kill. He’s still a real puzzle piece for the Sens, who already had the longest odds at a postseason berth of any team still realistically in the race for a playoff spot.
Of course, Ottawa has also been without #1 rearguard Jake Sanderson for the last four games with an upper-body injury. He’s still listed as week-to-week, with Green saying he could get back on the ice for some skating work in the next seven days.
Both their absences have put immense strain on Ottawa’s defense corps. Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence, averaging just over 17 minutes per game this season between them, are now the club’s second pairing behind Chabot and Artem Zub. Dennis Gilbert, who’s never played more than 35 games in a season, is now a lineup regular until Sanderson returns. That’s far from an ideal place to be from a roster management perspective for a team in a playoff chase, although the fact they’ve been able to eke out a pair of wins in their two games without both Sanderson and Jensen should be of some consolation.
Ottawa has the ninth-most difficult remaining schedule in the league, per Tankathon. The good news is that several teams they’re potentially competing with for wild-card berths, including the Blue Jackets, Bruins, Islanders, and Red Wings, are in the top eight above them. MoneyPuck still projects them to finish ninth in the East with 97 points, though – a total that would win them the Pacific Division but leave them out of the picture in what has turned out to be a ridiculously competitive race to the finish out East.
Latest On Carter Yakemchuk
The Ottawa Senators are in the midst of a playoff chase for the rest of the season, currently sitting four points out of a playoff position. As they look to build momentum down the stretch, they have been forced to deal with injuries to their defense.
Top blueliner Jake Sanderson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and veteran Nick Jensen is also out, albeit on a day-to-day basis. Those injuries have forced the team to tap into some of its organizational depth, but some Senators fans may have been surprised to see 2019 first-rounder Lassi Thomson recalled to the NHL roster, rather than 2024 No. 7 overall pick Carter Yakemchuk.
TSN reporter Claire Hanna asked Senators GM Steve Staios about the club’s decision to leave Yakemchuk in the AHL. He noted that while the team has considered recalling Yakemchuk, they are trying to be mindful of the exact nature, and timing, of how they introduce Yakemchuk to the NHL.
The Senators are set to play some extremely high-stakes games in the coming weeks. Based on what Staios told Hanna, the Senators organization believes putting Yakemchuk into their NHL lineup for those games would not be a move conducive to his development.
The 6’3″ former WHL star is currently the No. 1 defenseman for the AHL Senators, playing a heavy workload for Belleville, including on the power play. But Yakemchuk, who has 33 points this season, has only 46 games of professional experience. And while he has played quite a bit for the AHL Senators, he has not factored into the team’s penalty kill.
In fact, it’s Yakemchuk’s still-growing defensive game that is likely giving the Senators pause when it comes to potentially calling him up for the team’s playoff chase. David St-Louis, Lead Scout at Elite Prospects, wrote in a game report last month that Yakemchuk’s “defensive reads are a work in progress.”
When considering both what is best for Yakemchuk’s long-term development, as well as the team’s short-term interest in maximizing its odds of winning the remaining games on its schedule, it’s understandable that the Senators are, to this point, resisting the temptation to recall their top prospect.
While recalling Yakemchuk might offer greater upside than bringing up Thomson, there is also the potential that taking Yakemchuk out of Belleville to place him in a depth role in an NHL lineup in some high-stakes contests could hurt his confidence and disrupt the rhythm he’s developed at the AHL level.
Yakemchuk, who has scored six points in his last two games, will almost certainly be a major part of the Senators’ future. Keeping him in the AHL, at least for now, requires considerable patience. But it could also be one that most directly aids Yakemchuk’s development.
Senators Tried To Move Mads Sogaard At Trade Deadline
It was only a couple of years ago that Senators goaltender Mads Sogaard was viewed as their potential goalie of the future. However, some struggles since then and other moves made by the team (including adding Linus Ullmark for the long haul) has changed his trajectory. It appears that Ottawa was ready to move on from him at last week’s trade deadline as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Sens made some efforts to move Sogaard but weren’t able to do so.
The 25-year-old was the 37th pick back in 2019 after a promising showing with WHL Medicine Hat. That, coupled with a six-foot-seven stature, was a profile Ottawa felt it could count on. He carried that over to his rookie professional season in 2021-22 but things haven’t gone as well since then.
Sogaard has battled injuries the last two years which has limited his playing time. And when he has played, his numbers haven’t been great. This season, he has a 3.38 GAA along with a .884 SV% in 22 games with AHL Belleville, numbers that are an improvement on the eight-game stint he had at that level a year ago.
The Senators have given Sogaard a chance at NHL playing time in each of his five professional seasons, including this one where he has a pair of appearances. However, he has just 31 games at the top level under his belt with a 3.60 GAA and a .877 SV%. In a total of 26 starts, eight have had a save percentage below .850, a near one-in-three ratio.
It’s those performances coupled with the acquisition of Ullmark and emergence of Leevi Merilainen as a goalie with some upside that have seen Sogaard go from a perceived future core player to a project with plenty of uncertainty. Based on their inability to move him, it appears other teams have some hesitance about him as well.
That said, Sogaard’s contract could have played a factor. While he’s on a league-minimum contract at $775K, he’s on a one-way pact and will be eligible for salary arbitration this summer. With that NHL playing time under his belt, there’s a case to be made that his camp could push for a seven-figure one-way salary with a hearing, something Ottawa or any other team might be hesitant to pay. With that in mind, it’s possible that he becomes a non-tender candidate this summer.
That makes the stretch run that much more important for Sogaard. The Senators cleared their AHL goaltending logjam on Friday when they moved Hunter Shepard to Montreal, leaving Merilainen and Sogaard as their tandem for the final few weeks of the season. Sogaard will want to finish strong to showcase himself not only to Ottawa but potentially the rest of the league as well should their efforts to move him continue.
Senators Recall Lassi Thomson
With a second defenseman now injured, the Senators need some extra defensive depth heading into a back-to-back set this weekend. The team announced that Lassi Thomson has been recalled from AHL Belleville.
It’s the second recall of the season for the 25-year-old, who returned to North America this season after spending last season in Sweden. Thomson has been quite productive in Belleville, tallying 14 goals and 11 assists in 55 games; his goal total leads all AHL defenders. Unfortunately for him, it took until now to get an NHL opportunity.
A first-round pick by the Sens in 2019 (19th overall), Thomson has failed to get any sort of foothold at the NHL level. His time with Ottawa has been limited to just 18 games, 16 of which came back in the 2021-22 season; he last suited up with the big club back in November 2022 as he didn’t play on his first promotion of the season. Accordingly, it was reported back in January that Thomson was already eyeing overseas options for next season when he becomes a Group Six unrestricted free agent in the summer.
Thomson’s promotion comes on the heels of defenseman Nick Jensen being listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained against Montreal. However, TSN’s Claire Hanna relays (Twitter link) that the injury is unrelated to the hip that the veteran had surgery on over the summer. The 35-year-old logged just over 20 minutes a night last season in his first year in Ottawa but his second campaign hasn’t gone as well. Jensen is down more than three minutes per game in ice time while chipping in with four goals and 13 assists in 61 games.
Senators Acquire Riley Kidney From Canadiens
The Ottawa Senators completed a minor-league trade with the Montreal Canadiens, acquiring center Riley Kidney in exchange for center Jake Chiasson and goaltender Hunter Shepard per PuckPedia. The move will bolster the Laval Rocket with two AHL veterans ahead of a playoff run, while adding another young forward to the Belleville Senators with 14 games left in the regular season.
Kidney, 23, was a star scorer across four seasons in the QMJHL. He debuted with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the 2019-20 season after being drafted with the 11th-overall pick in that year’s QMJHL Entry Draft. Kindey quickly translated to the junior flight and scored five goals and 33 points in 59 games as a rookie. His passing ability stood out early, highlighted by an appearance at the 2019 World U17 Hockey Challenge, where Kidney’s five points in six games ranked above Team Canada teamamtes Mason McTavish and Dylan Guenther.
Kidney moved into his age-18 season with momenutm. He scored nine points in the first nine games of the season – before the QMJHL season was suspended from late-November to mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He scored four points in his second game back from the pause and finished the year with 38 points in 33 games. That was enough to earn convince Montreal to draft Kidney in the 2021 second-round pick. He rewarded that selection by notching 100 points in 66 games of the QMJHL’s return to a full schedule in 2021-22. Kidney repeated that feat in 2022-23, combining for 110 points in 60 games between the Titan and the Gaitneau Olympiques.
Despite high-scoring junior seasons, the nimble passer hasn’t found his scoring touch in the pros just yet. He racked up 37 points in 117 games with Laval between 2023 and 2025, slim enough to earn a demotion to the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions this season. Kidney has scored 11 goals and 33 points in 46 games with the Lions, one point shy of the team lead. Now, he could find space in the bottom-six of a Belleville squad that has promoted Arthur Kaliyev, Xavier Bourgault, and Stephen Halliday into NHL stints this season.
Laval will add Chiasson and Shepard to round out the lineup following Kidney’s move and Jacob Fowler‘s call-up to the NHL. Chiasson scored one point in 20 AHL games and eight points in 14 ECHL games. Shepard has notched six wins and a .885 save percentage in 15 AHL games, and made 12 saves on 14 shots in a mid-game appearance with Ottawa in January. Shepard should assume the backup role behind Kaapo Kahkonen, though his addition could indicate that Fowler is set for an extended stint at the top level. He stopped 32 of 34 shots in his return to NHL action on Wednesday.
Blackhawks, Senators To Play 2026 Global Series In Germany
The Blackhawks and Senators will head to Düsseldorf, Germany, to play a pair of regular-season contests on Dec. 18 and 20 as part of the 2026 Global Series, the NHL announced this morning.
They will mark only the second and third games the league has played in Germany, at least among regular-season contests. The Sabres and Kings headed to Berlin to open the 2011-12 campaign. That ended up being the last regular-season game outside North America for over six years, until the NHL launched the Global Series brand by sending the Avalanche and Sens to Sweden in November 2017.
This will be Ottawa’s third time participating in a Global Series event and their seventh and eighth European regular-season games overall, although it will be their first outside of Sweden. They had a back-to-back against the Penguins in Stockholm in 2008, again in Stockholm against Colorado in the aforementioned 2017 Global Series, and games against the Red Wings and Wild there in November 2023.
The Hawks’ history with European play is much sparser. They made it there to play a back-to-back with the Panthers in Helsinki to open the 2009-10 season, and didn’t return until 10 years later to play a one-off with the Flyers in Prague. This will only be their fourth and fifth European contests as a result.
Outside of North America, the Sens have been virtually unbeatable. They have a 5-0-1 record in those games, and their lone overtime loss came in their European debut (Tyler Kennedy had the winner for the eventual Cup champion Pens). The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are 1-1-1.
Of course, this won’t translate to a reduction in home games. Each club will still have 41 on its schedule next season, as the regular-season length jumps from 82 to 84 games under the new CBA extension.