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Senators Assign Tyler Kleven To Minors

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The Senators announced they’ve assigned rookie defenseman Tyler Kleven to AHL Belleville. His spot in the lineup will go to Thomas Chabot, who, according to multiple reports, has been cleared to return from a lower-body injury ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Devils.

Kleven, a 2020 second-round pick, had filled in for Chabot since the latter was injured in a March 27 contest against the Sabres. He played a limited role in his four-game recall, going without a point, posting a -2 rating, and logging five shots on goal while averaging 14:41 per game. That was up drastically from the minimal 11:01 per game he averaged during a five-game run on the roster in October and November.

Those will likely be his only two stints on the NHL roster in 2023-24, closing out what’s otherwise been a strong campaign for the shutdown prospect. The 6’4″, 200-lb blue-liner has made 45 appearances for the B-Sens, recording 17 points and a +13 rating. He’s in his first full professional campaign after spending three seasons with the University of North Dakota, with whom he won the NCHC tournament and regular-season championship in 2021, along with a gold medal while representing the United States at the World Juniors.

Signed to an entry-level contract with a $917K cap hit, Kleven is still one year away from his initial deal running out and will be an RFA in 2025. The North Dakota native should be a candidate to land a role on their opening night roster in the fall.

Thomas Chabot Could Return To The Lineup This Weekend

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Boston Bruins rookie forward Justin Brazeau will be out week-to-week after suffering an apparently upper-body injury. Not many details are available yet, but Brazeau flew back to Boston yesterday to meet with doctors and more information will be available in the coming days regarding the severity and the timeline of the injury.

Brazeau was hurt in the first period of the Bruins game on Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators and did not return. He was stood up by Luke Schenn on the play and appeared to be favoring his arm or his shoulder while he received attention from the Bruins staff on the bench. In 19 games this season the 26-year-old rookie has five goals and two assists and has played predominantly in Boston’s bottom six.

In other evening notes:

  • Ottawa Sun reporter Bruce Garrioch tweeted that he expects Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot to return to the lineup this weekend. The 27-year-old has battled injuries throughout the season with the most recent ailment keeping him out of the lineup since March 27th. Chabot’s absence was caused by a lower-body injury that was called a nagging injury by Senators staff. Chabot has dressed in just 44 games this season for Ottawa and has posted good offensive numbers with eight goals and 20 assists.
  • Matthew Tkachuk was back in the Florida Panthers lineup tonight as they routed the Senators 6-0. Tkachuk had a goal and two assists in 12:56 of ice time. Tkachuk didn’t dress for the Panthers on Tuesday in Montreal as he battled an illness but showed no ill effects of it tonight in Ottawa. With his three points this evening, Tkachuk now has 24 goals and 59 assists on the season in 75 games and is unlikely to eclipse the 100-point plateau for the third consecutive season.
  • Corey Masisak of The Denver Post tweeted that Colorado Avalanche center Yakov Trenin did not dress tonight for the game against the Minnesota Wild due to an undisclosed injury. Trenin was acquired at the trade deadline from the Predators and has dressed in 10 games with the Avalanche posting two goals. Colorado’s head coach Jared Bednar did tell reporters that Trenin could play tomorrow night when the Avalanche head to Edmonton to take on the Oilers.

Angus Crookshank Out Indefinitely

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  • Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun is reporting that Ottawa Senators forward Angus Crookshank is unlikely to return this season as he is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old rookie has dressed in 13 games this year and has averaged just a shade over 10 minutes of ice time per game. He’s played in a bottom-six role but did get some top-6 minutes on his most recent recall and will likely be in the mix for a spot in the Senators forward group next season. Crookshank hasn’t produced much in the way of offence, but he has chipped in with two goals and an assist.

Senators Activate, Reassign Rourke Chartier

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The Senators have activated forward Rourke Chartier from injured reserve and subsequently assigned him to AHL Belleville, per a team announcement. He’d missed 12 games with an upper-body injury.

Chartier, 28 yesterday, was summoned from Belleville under emergency conditions on March 8 but only played once, logging 11:23 against the Sharks before exiting the lineup. He was placed on IR later in the month to open a roster spot.

It was the second lengthy absence of the campaign for Chartier, who also missed 12 games with a concussion in December and January. That hasn’t stopped the Saskatoon native from making a career-high 37 appearances this season, scoring twice and adding an assist while averaging 10:46 per game. The minor-league mainstay is in his third season with the Senators organization and his second on an NHL contract in Ottawa after spending 2021-22 on a minor-league contract with Belleville.

A Sharks 2014 fifth-round pick, the former WHL All-Star played only 13 games with San Jose, all in the 2018-19 season. The following summer, after completing his entry-level contract, he was not awarded a qualifying offer and became an unrestricted free agent, but concussion symptoms prevented him from being cleared to play, and he sat out the 2019-20 campaign as a result. He returned to play in 2020 on a minor-league contract with the Maple Leafs before linking up with the Sens in 2021.

While he may not have much of an NHL future after showing little promise in his fourth-line minutes, Chartier has resumed his strong level of play in the minors and should continue to earn contracts from major league clubs. The pending UFA has been strong in limited action with the B-Sens this year, posting seven goals and 10 points in 12 games. Last season, he scored 20 goals in only 40 games.

Chartier will likely spend the rest of the season in the minors and will be eligible for Calder Cup Playoffs action with Belleville if they sneak in. They’re last place in the North Division but are only two points back of Laval for the fifth and final playoff berth with two games in hand. However, if injuries take a forward out of the mix, he could find his way back up to Ottawa for a game or two.

Injury Notes: Couturier, Hamonic, Oshie

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It has been revealed that Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier is facing a sprained shoulder, per NHL.com’s Kevin Kurz (Twitter link). Couturier seems to have dodged more serious injury and continues to carry the day-to-day injury designation given to him on Wednesday and is questionable for the team’s Friday night game.

Couturier has had an eventful season since being named Philadelphia’s first captain since Claude Giroux on February 14th. He’s since managed just three assists through 20 games, adding 11 penalty minutes and a -17. The cold streak has earned him two healthy scratches that he hasn’t yet vindicated – riding a six-game scoreless streak since returning to the lineup. Couturier managed 30 points in 41 games of the season but has since fallen apart. Hopefully a clean bill of health following this shoulder injury can bring with it a resurgence on the scoresheet.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Ottawa Senators are expected to be without defenseman Travis Hamonic on Thursday night due to a lower-body injury, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun (Twitter link). Hamonic has missed 16 of Ottawa’s last 17 games with this injury and continues to miss time even after being removed from injured reserve on March 19th. He’s played in just 48 games this season, recording six points, 40 penalty minutes, and a -10. He joins Thomas Chabot on the team’s sideline, with Tyler Kleven benefiting most from the pair’s absences.
  • T.J. Oshie missed the Washington Capitals practice on Thursday, instead seeing the team’s doctor for an upper-body injury. Head coach Spencer Carbery shared that the injury will hold Oshie out of Washington’s next two games, per Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post (Twitter link), as the Capitals face a back-to-back on Thursday and Friday. His next chance to return will come on Sunday, when Washington hosts the Ottawa Senators. Oshie has played in just 47 games this season, recording 11 goals and 19 points.

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.

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