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Senators Recall Jiri Smejkal

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled forward Jiri Smejkal from the Belleville Senators (Twitter link). Smejkal has been between rosters all season long, rejoining the AHL on March 13th and scoring three points in the five games since.

This move now marks Smejkal’s sixth call-up of the season, an impressive feat for the first-year North American pro. Smejkal signed a one-year, $950K entry-level deal with Ottawa this summer, moving to Canada after spending nine seasons across various European pro leagues. He’s quickly slotted into the role of de facto fill-in, despite just 22 points through his first 45 AHL games. His NHL performances haven’t been any more exciting, boasting just one assist in 12 games. He’s clearly still adjusting to North America, scoring significantly less than he did in the pair of 40-point seasons he posted in the SHL and Liiga over the last two years.

Even in the absence of scoring, Smejkal has brought a stout and professional frame – standing at a sturdy 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds. Ottawa will again lean on that frame to make an impact, as Angus Crookshank joins a long list of absent forwards with an undisclosed injury. Ottawa is also missing Joshua Norris, Zack MacEwen, Matthew Highmore, and Rourke Chartier. Their absences have tested Ottawa’s depth, but Smejkal isn’t their last line of defense – with top prospects Zack Ostapchuk and Roby Jarventie still in the AHL. Both players have received a half-dozen NHL games this season but Jarventie is the only one to make the scoresheet, managing one assist. Smejkal has averaged under nine minutes of ice time this season and is likely to manage a minimal role once again. But if he isn’t sharp, he could lose time to a top AHL prospect on a Senators team well out of the playoff picture.

Chabot To Return Tuesday Or Thursday

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  • The Senators won’t have Thomas Chabot in the lineup tonight for the second straight game with a lower-body injury but he shouldn’t be out much longer. TSN’s John Lu relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner is expected to return next week, either on Tuesday or Thursday.  The 27-year-old has had an injury-riddled season, being limited to just 44 games so far.  He has done well in those, however, collecting 28 points while logging 23:31 per night.

Sens To Discuss Alfredsson's Future After The Season

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While plenty of the focus in Ottawa has been regarding their head coaching search, the future of one of their assistants is also in question.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun relayed that the Senators intend to sit down with Daniel Alfredsson after the season to assess what he’d like his role to be moving forward.  The long-time winger started the season as a development coach before moving behind the bench as an assistant when Jacques Martin took over.  With Martin returning to a consulting role in a few weeks, they’ll soon find out if they’ll have another spot to fill on their coaching staff.

Ottawa Senators Recall Tyler Kleven

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A few moments ago, the Ottawa Senators announced that the team has recalled defenseman Tyler Kleven from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Since the transaction is being registered as an emergency loan, it will not count against the four potential call-ups the Senators have available to them since the trade deadline.

Albeit positive news for Kleven to be back up at the NHL level, it was preluded by some unfortunate news, as top defenseman Thomas Chabot was injured last night in the team’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, necessitating the transaction. It is unclear how long Chabot will be out with this specific injury, but it has certainly been a theme this season for one of Ottawa’s best players.

Because of these injuries, Chabot has only played in a total of 44 out of a possible 71 games for the Senators this year, projected to be his lowest total since the 2020-21 NHL shortened season. When healthy, Chabot has still been heavily relied upon by Ottawa, scoring eight goals and 28 points while averaging 23:31 of ice time per game.

Kleven, on the other hand, is not as heavily utilized by the Senators, as he’s only suited up in five games at the NHL level this season. In those five contests, the former 44th overall pick has registered only one assist while averaging just over 11 minutes of ice time per game.

At the AHL level, Kleven has shown flashes of being a quality shutdown defenseman in professional hockey, scoring three goals and 17 points in 45 games for Belleville, while also registering a +13 rating. While still carrying six healthy defensemen on the NHL roster, it remains to be seen if Kleven will suit up in the team’s game tonight.

Could Chris Kelly Be An Option To Be Ottawa's Head Coach?

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The search for Ottawa’s next coach is well underway with D.J. Smith being let go back in mid-December and Jacques Martin serving in the interim role until the end of the season.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch suggests that long-time Senators center Chris Kelly is someone they may want to speak to.  Kelly, who spent parts of eight seasons in Ottawa and also served as a development coach with them, is currently an assistant in Boston.  Among the names speculated to also be under consideration are AHL Toronto’s Jon Gruden, recently-fired veteran bench bosses Todd McLellan, Dean Evason, and Craig Berube, along with Philadelphia associate coach Brad Shaw.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Sens wait until deeper into the offseason to see who else might also become available so it may take a while yet for them to find their next head coach.

Senators Sign Stephen Halliday To Entry-Level Contract

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The Ottawa Senators have signed collegiate forward Stephen Halliday to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will begin in the 2024-25 season, with Halliday joining the AHL’s Belleville Senators on an amateur try-out for the remainder of the season. Ottawa drafted Halliday in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft – his last year of draft eligibility. He earned the selection with a 95-point season in the USHL, becoming just the third player since 2000 to score 95-or-more points in one season. The dazzling year also earned Halliday the title of all-time leading scorer in the USHL, with a total of 215 points across 215 games in the league.

Halliday was drafted first overall in the 2018 USHL Draft, contextualizing his status as an all-time leading scorer a bit more. But his climb to the title wasn’t necessarily smooth. Halliday struggled to carve out an impactful role through his first two years in juniors, struggling to add finesse to his skating and direction to his aggressiveness. His career was also impeded by the disbandment of the Central Illinois Flying Aces, leading Halliday to an abrupt move to Dubuque in the summer after his rookie season. That left him learning a brand-new system for the second year in a row and it took time for him to adjust. He handled a modest role in his first year in Dubuque, but found his footing in the subsequent season, forming a formidable pairing with Tampa Bay prospect Connor Kurth on Dubuque’s top line.

Halliday has maintained that strong footing ever since, leading The Ohio State University in scoring in each of the last two seasons (77 points in 78 games played). While he can still look awkward at times, Halliday has found a way to control a beautiful finesse that his game has always boasted and becoming much more efficient with his movement around the ice. His game is lanky and slower, but Halliday’s puck skills and physicality more than make up for the deficit. He’ll now get the chance to carry his streak of strong performances into the next level, signing his first professional contract after his sophomore year of college.

Senators Recall Angus Crookshank, Reassign Zack Ostapchuk

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Mar. 22: Ottawa confirmed Crookshank’s recall Friday, which came under emergency conditions, although Giroux was okay to play in yesterday’s 5-2 loss to St. Louis. In a corresponding transaction, the team reassigned rookie center Zack Ostapchuk to Belleville, ending his emergency loan. The 20-year-old played in six straight games, the first of his NHL career, after a recall earlier in March. However, he failed to record a point and struggled across the board with a -1 rating, a 30.6 FO%, and a 40.0 CF% at even strength while averaging 10:25 per game.

Mar. 21: The Senators have recalled winger Angus Crookshank from AHL Belleville, per the league’s transactions log. He will play in Thursday’s game against the Blues if Claude Giroux, who assistant coach Daniel Alfredsson said will be a game-time decision due to illness, can’t go.

A fifth-round pick by the Sens in 2018, Crookshank is in his fourth professional season with the organization after wrapping up his collegiate career with the University of New Hampshire in 2021. The 5-foot-11 winger adjusted to the pros well down the stretch in 2020-21, recording 16 points in 19 games, but his progress was stunted when a preseason knee injury cost him the entire 2021-22 season.

He’s been slowly rebounding since, and he’s come out in full force this year with a team-leading 24 goals and 46 points in 50 games for the B-Sens. His performance has been strong enough to earn him two recalls already this season, both emergency loans in December, resulting in his first seven NHL games. Today marks his first day on Ottawa’s roster since being returned to the minors on Jan. 7.

Crookshank didn’t look entirely out of place in his NHL minutes, recording a goal and an assist, but his usage was extremely limited, averaging 8:50 per game. That didn’t hold him back from averaging a shot on goal per game, however, and he had a solid 48.4 CF% at even strength despite starting the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone. He’s an intriguing candidate to see some time higher up in the lineup down the stretch with playoffs no longer possible for Ottawa.

The 24-year-old is in the final season of his entry-level contract, which carries an $838K cap hit and pays him only $70K at the minor-league level. He’ll be an RFA this summer, but he needs one more professional season to have arbitration rights.

Snapshots: Guenette, Hamonic, Edstrom, St. Ivany, Pleshkov

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It’s been a busy St. Patrick’s Day for the transactions log, kicked off by the Ottawa Senators’ assigning of Max Guenette to the minor leagues (Twitter link). Guenette has been with the NHL roster since the first week of March. He’s since appeared in six games with the Senators, going without a point but adding one penalty and a -1. It was Guenette’s first extended stint in the NHL, after playing his second career game in the league in February. He’s still searching for his first NHL point, though he has managed five goals and 29 points in 49 AHL games this season.

Guenette’s assignment is a sign that Travis Hamonic could be nearing a return, says Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun (Twitter Link). Hamonic has been on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury since March 3rd. He previously missed five games ahead of the All-Star Break, bearing with an upper-body injury suffered in late January. He’s played in just 47 of Ottawa’s 65 games this season, recording six points, 40 penalty minutes, and a -9. Even if he is nearing a return, it’s not likely that Hamonic will take on a major role, averaging just below 15 minutes of ice time this season. Still, he adds the experience of an 840-game veteran to the lineup, replacing the rookie Guenette.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The New York Rangers have sent Adam Edstrom back to the AHL (Twitter Link). He was recalled to the NHL on March 15th under emergency conditions, though he hasn’t appeared in a game with the Rangers since March 4th. Edstrom has received the first 11 games of his NHL career this season and has managed two goals, two penalty minutes, and a +2. The 6’7″ bruiser has also added 30 hits, averaging the fourth-most hits on the Rangers lineup, behind William Cuylle, Matt Rempe, and Jacob Trouba.
  • Pittsburgh has also made a roster move, sending down defenseman Jack St. Ivany from his first professional recall, per CapFriendly (Twitter Link). St. Ivany didn’t receive his debut in his first stint in the NHL, serving as a healthy scratch in Pittsburgh’s Saturday afternoon loss to the New York Rangers. He’ll now return to the AHL, where he’s already managed 12 points, 30 penalty minutes, and a +14 in 52 games.
  • Hockey history has been made in Russia’s VHL – the league immediately below the KHL – when SKA-Neva took on AKM. The game went to five overtimes and 21-year-old goaltender Artemi Pleshkov carried a shutout until the very last shot, saving an incredible 124 shots. The 125th shot was too much, though, as Pleshkov and SKA fell 1-0 after 158 minutes of hockey. Pleshkov, who is undrafted in the NHL, has been fantastic this season, recording 12 wins and a .943 save percentage in 23 VHL games this season. He’s also managed a .926 in 10 KHL games, and a .947 in seven playoff games. His amazing game tops Alexander Borodulya’s 107-save performance in the Belarussian Extraliga – the previous record.

Senators Acquire Jamieson Rees From Hurricanes

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The Senators have acquired center prospect Jamieson Rees from the Hurricanes, per a team release. Ottawa has sent their 2024 sixth-round pick to Carolina in return.

This is the Senators’ second minor-league pickup of the day after nabbing center Wyatt Bongiovanni from the Jets. Both players are ineligible to play for Ottawa down the stretch as they were acquired after the March 8 deadline, but they can suit up for the team’s AHL affiliate in Belleville for the remainder of the season. Today was the AHL’s trade deadline, explaining the flurry of minor-league movement.

Carolina is selling Rees at a loss after drafting him in the second round in 2019. The 23-year-old has been affected by the Hurricanes’ lack of an AHL affiliate this season more than anyone in the organization, recording just four assists in 37 games split between the Springfield Thunderbirds and Charlotte Checkers. Last season, Rees finished fourth on the Chicago Wolves (then Carolina’s primary affiliate) in scoring, notching 14 goals and 42 points in 65 games.

While the 5-foot-11 pivot has continued to display his high-end skating at the pro level, he hasn’t scored with consistency. 2022-23’s showing was a breakout campaign at 0.65 points per game – he’s notched 0.48, 0.39 and 0.14 points per game in his other three full AHL seasons. A Calder Cup champion with Chicago in 2022, there’s still upside to be had if he can regain his confidence along with some organizational stability in Ottawa, but a write-off season this late in his development is concerning.

Rees is in the final season of his entry-level contract, with a cap hit of $839K. He’ll be an RFA this summer if the Senators issue him a qualifying offer, although he does not have arbitration rights.

Senators Acquire Wyatt Bongiovanni From Jets

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The Senators acquired center Wyatt Bongiovanni from the Jets in exchange for future considerations on Friday, per a team announcement. The team promptly reassigned Bongiovanni to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Belleville will likely send a player signed to an AHL contract to Winnipeg’s affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, to complete the trade. Since he was traded after the March 8 deadline, Bongiovanni will not be eligible for recall to Ottawa for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

[Related: Post-Deadline Transaction Restrictions]

Bongiovanni, 24, signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has played for the Moose ever since, scoring 21 goals and 33 points in 93 games. However, the former Quinnipiac University captain has been one of Manitoba’s worst defensive forwards, posting a team-worst -17 rating in 2022-23 and a -12 rating this season. He has not received an NHL recall since turning pro nearly two years ago.

The Michigan-born center was once a solid contributor with Quinnipiac, racking up 50 goals, 90 points and a +43 rating across 123 appearances between 2018 and 2022. His shot was always the most intriguing aspect of his game, and while he’s managed to flash it at times with Manitoba, the rest of his game hasn’t reached the level required for a major-league summons.

Bongiovanni is exempt from waivers and will remain so for two more seasons or until he plays 60 NHL games, whichever comes first. His two-year, $1.605MM entry-level contract expires this summer, and if the Senators issue him a qualifying offer, he’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

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