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Artem Zub Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury

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Things continue to get worse in terms of the amount of personnel available for the Ottawa Senators. Defenseman Artem Zub left Thursday’s game against Los Angeles with an upper-body injury, and head coach D.J. Smith says there’s “no update” on his status.

Ottawa is already without nine players due to COVID-19 protocol, including defensemen Nikita Zaitsev, Josh Brown, Victor Mete, and Nick Holden. The team is down to just nine healthy defensemen under NHL contracts now, as Jacob Bernard-Docker, Maxence Guenette, and Jonathan Aspirot remain with AHL Belleville.

The team’s depth is stretched extremely thin, as many young players are now getting NHL time sooner than expected. 2019 first-round selection Lassi Thomson made his NHL debut Thursday in place of Zaitsev.

If Zub is to miss any period of time, Bernard-Docker is the obvious choice to come up from Belleville. The 21-year-old right-shot defenseman does not require waivers and got into five games with the Senators at the tail end of last season.

Zub himself was having a great start to the 2021-22 season, notching five assists in 12 games while working his way up to the team’s top pairing with Thomas Chabot. He’s been Ottawa’s most responsible defenseman since joining the team prior to 2020-21, now averaging nearly 23 minutes a night this season.

Alex Formenton, Matt Murray, Nikita Zaitsev Placed In COVID Protocol

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5:27 pm: Per the Senators’ communications team, defenseman Nikita Zaitsev has also been placed in COVID-19 protocol just a half-hour ahead of Thursday’s game. Lassi Thomson will make his NHL debut tonight in place of Zaitsev.

9:35 am: Another day, another pair of unavailable players for the Ottawa Senators. The team has announced that Alex Formenton and Matt Murray have been placed in the COVID protocol. Andrew Agozzino, Dillon Heatherington, and Lassi Thomson have all been recalled from the AHL as tonight’s game is still currently scheduled to proceed.

Formenton and Murray join a growing list of players in the protocol for Ottawa, which also includes Connor Brown, Victor Mete, Austin Watson, Nick Holden, Dylan Gambrell, Josh Brown, and assistant coach Jack Capuano. That is a huge chunk of the team, including several important pieces. The Senators are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Kings this evening, before welcoming in the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames for a back-to-back over the weekend.

The team did not confirm whether Formenton and Murray tested positive, only that they have been entered into the protocol.

In terms of call-ups, Thomson is certainly an interesting one given his experience to this point. The 21-year-old defenseman has yet to play a game at the NHL level, but is showing well in the minor leagues. Selected 19th overall in 2019, he has two points in six games with the Belleville Senators this season.

Senators And Canadiens Have Shown Interest In Vitali Kravtsov

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Back when Rangers winger Vitali Kravtsov refused his assignment to AHL Hartford and was given permission to seek a trade, it was reported that several teams had shown interest in the 21-year-old.  According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Senators and Canadiens were the two teams with the most interest in acquiring the 2018 first-rounder.

Kravtsov came to North America last season after a good showing with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL where he potted 16 goals in 49 games.  However, that production didn’t carry over to New York as he had just two goals and two assists in 20 contests with the Rangers.  He had a goal in three preseason contests this year but it wasn’t enough to make the team as he was sent down.  It was only last week that Kravtsov was officially loaned back to Chelyabinsk to get some playing time and he made an immediate impact, scoring twice while adding an assist in his first game back.

Ottawa has been known to be seeking forward help going back to the start of the season and as a team that’s only now just trying to start to emerge from their rebuild, Kravtsov is the type of player that they would want to add to their existing young core.  As for Montreal, their depth is limited when it comes to left-shot wingers so there would be a spot in the bottom six for him to try and fill.

Of course, given his draft pedigree, New York placed a high price tag on Kravtsov’s services, one that clearly no one has met yet.  The fact that he’s now playing again can only help his value over sitting at home and a good showing back in the KHL could be enough for teams to up the ante on their offer.  Based on Seravalli’s report, the Senators and Canadiens will be among the teams keeping a close eye on how Kravtsov does in the weeks to come.

League Not Planning To Postpone Any Ottawa Games Despite COVID Outbreak

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The NHL currently has no plans to postpone and reschedule any of Ottawa’s games in the midst of their COVID outbreak, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  Josh Brown became the sixth Senators player to be sidelined along with associate coach Jack Capuano which was enough to lead some to believe that yesterday’s game against Boston could be postponed.  However, they were able to get enough reinforcements to ice a full lineup for that contest.  Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the league is “monitoring the situation” but that they would prefer to not have to reschedule games if possible.  The Sens begin a stint of three games in four days on Thursday so this situation will be one to monitor if more players have to be quarantined.

Josh Brown Added To COVID Protocol

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The Ottawa Senators have placed a sixth player in the COVID protocol, adding Josh Brown to it this morning. He joins Victor Mete, Austin Watson, Nick Holden, Connor Brown, and Dylan Gambrell as players unavailable to the Senators currently, along with assistant coach Jack Capuano who is also in the protocol.

Importantly, the team has not revealed whether Brown tested positive for coronavirus or how long he will be held out of the lineup. He did play last night, logging more than 15 minutes in a loss to the Boston Bruins. Through 12 games for the team this season he has yet to score a point.

Hopefully, the parade to the protocol ends there for the Senators, though it has obviously already done some damage to their season chances. Ottawa has lost five in a row now and find themselves tied with the Montreal Canadiens for last place in the Atlantic Division. Losing players like Brown is especially impactful, given his important position on the roster. All the team can do right now is try to get through this stretch without any lingering health issues.

The Senators are scheduled to take on the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow night, before welcoming in the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames for a back-to-back over the weekend.

Victor Mete Added To COVID Protocol

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When Victor Mete wasn’t on the ice this morning with the Ottawa Senators, it raised concerns over whether he too would be ruled out. The Senators have made it official, placing Mete in the COVID protocol for the time being. With his roster spot, Ottawa has recalled Filip Gustavsson from the AHL. Anton Forsberg will not be able to dress for tonight’s game because of a non-COVID illness.

Mete joins Austin Watson, Nick Holden, Connor Brown, Dylan Gambrell, and assistant coach Jack Capuano in the protocol, leaving them very shorthanded for tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins. Young players like Egor Sokolov are getting an opportunity because of the absences, but this isn’t exactly how the team hoped to be operating a month into the season. The group is already without Shane Pinto, Clark Bishop, and Colin White due to injury, meaning tonight will see a forward group that includes just a handful of players from their expected roster.

The Senators have lost four games in a row and now sit just one point out of last place in the Atlantic Division. There have been flashes of hope throughout the lineup, but overall the team hasn’t been able to take the next step in their rebuild.

Mete’s status has not been confirmed at this time, but he’s currently out indefinitely. Young defender Erik Brannstrom is expected to be back in the lineup for the first time this season, after being sent back to the AHL to start the year.

Connor Brown, Dylan Gambrell Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Ottawa Senators canceled practice today for precautionary reasons, suggesting that there was more bad COVID news coming down the pipe. The team has now announced that Connor Brown and Dylan Gambrell have both been placed in the COVID protocol and are unavailable. In their place, the team has recalled Scott Sabourin and Egor Sokolov from the AHL.

The two Senators forwards join teammates Austin Watson, Nick Holden, and coach Jack Capuano in the protocol, though the team has not confirmed any additional positive results. Ottawa is set to take on the Boston Bruins tomorrow, and though that game is still scheduled for the moment, it’s unclear who will actually be available for the Senators.

For Sokolov, it would be his NHL debut should he enter the lineup tomorrow. The 21-year-old forward was a second-round pick in 2020, picked after going undrafted in previous years. He quickly showed that his combination of size and scoring ability was good enough to make up for any skating concerns at the AHL level, scoring 15 goals and 25 points in his rookie season. This year he’s been even better for the Belleville Senators, getting off to a strong start with six points in nine games.

Meanwhile, losing Brown for any length of time is a big hit for the Senators, given how big a role he plays for the team. Averaging more than 20 minutes a night, the 27-year-old forward actually sees more short-handed ice time than even any of the team’s defensemen. He’s also a regular contributor on the powerplay and one of the group’s most reliable offensive players. In 11 games, he has seven points on the year.

The concern now is how widespread these breakthrough infections will be, and how many other players will be affected. After games tomorrow and Thursday, the Senators have a back-to-back over the weekend, games that hopefully they will have some good news for.

Senators Place Nick Holden And Jack Capuano In COVID Protocol

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The Senators have added to their COVID list as the team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Nick Holden and associate coach Jack Capuano have been placed into COVID protocol.  Taking Holden’s place on the roster will be blueliner Erik Brannstrom who has been recalled from AHL Belleville.

Holden is in his first season with Ottawa and has played in all but one of their 11 games so far, recording an assist while averaging 17:35 per game of ice time, primarily on the third pairing.  It’s his presence on the roster that played a role in Brannstrom being sent to the minors at the start of the season as having the 22-year-old as a healthy scratch with the Senators would hardly have been ideal from a development perspective.  Brannstrom has a goal and two assists in nine games with AHL Belleville so far this season.

Capuano and Holden will join winger Austin Watson in the protocols after Watson was added there back on Friday and will be there for at least ten days.  While some teams have had some cap challenges when players are added to the list, that won’t be the case for the Sens who will still have more than $12MM in cap room following Brannstrom’s promotion, per CapFriendly.

Ottawa Senators Assign Filip Gustavsson To AHL

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Per the Ottawa Senators communications department, the team re-assigned goalie Filip Gustavsson to the AHL’s Belleville Senators on Sunday.

The Senators have largely operated with a trio of netminders this season as starter Matt Murray’s health has been an issue at multiple points already so far in the season. But as he returns to full health, the team has opted to send Gustavsson, who does not require waivers, to Belleville.

It’s worth noting that the team currently has an active roster of 22 players and could indeed carry a third goalie as a healthy scratch.

Gustavsson has performed the best out of Ottawa’s three netminders this season with a .911 save percentage through five games played. Neither Murray’s or Anton Forsberg’s save percentage eclipses the .900 mark.

While many believe that the 23-year-old Swede has played himself into a backup or even starting role with Ottawa, the organization continues to value the positional depth, not willing to expose Forsberg to waivers in order to assign him to Belleville.

It’s highly likely that Gustavsson will return to the Ottawa roster at some point this season as he continues what’s been a strong development path since arriving in the Ottawa Senators organization.

Senators Recall Parker Kelly

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  • With Tyler Ennis out due to a non-COVID illness, the Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Parker Kelly from AHL Belleville.  The 22-year-old played in four games with Ottawa last month, logging nearly minutes per game on the fourth line.

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