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Snapshots: Senators Trade Rumors, Arber Xhekaj, Ridly Greig

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The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch recently shared that teams have been reaching out to the Senators to see if top forward Drake Batherson is available. However, Garrioch reports that Ottawa isn’t looking for a large-scale trade, and is instead shopping around winger Dominik Kubalik. This could be in an effort to make space for Shane Pinto, who is currently serving a 41-game suspension after violating the league’s sports wagering rules.

Kubalik is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and carries a $2MM cap hit this season. The 28-year-old has managed four goals and five points through 19 games this season, also adding six penalty minutes and a -10. Kubalik previously scored 30 goals and 46 points in the 2019-20 season, his rookie year in the NHL. His scoring took a step back following the exciting rookie year, but he managed 20 goals and 45 points in 81 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season.

And while those are certainly fine numbers for a cheap, depth forward, it’s easy to see why Batherson is the one teams are interested in. The 25-year-old winger currently has 14 points, split evenly, through 19 games this season. He’s coming off of a career-year that saw him record 22 goals and 62 points in 82 games last season. The breakout year was apart of a steady climb in scoring, with Batherson recording 34 points in 2020-21 and 44 points in only 46 games during the 2021-22 season. The young forward is also cost-controlled through 2026-27, carrying a cap hit of $4.975MM in each of the next four seasons.

Other notes from around the league:

Senators’ D.J. Smith On The Hot Seat

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The Ottawa Senators are falling flat this season, carrying a 9-10-0 record that currently has them ranked third-to-last in the NHL. They rank 28th in goals-for through the early season as well, despite having nine different skaters with 10 or more points. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch shared that, as the team continues to struggle, head coach D.J. Smith’s seat is becoming one of the hottest in Ottawa. Garrioch added that new GM Staios isn’t looking to make a change yet, but continued losses could force his hand to make a change sooner rather than later.

Smith has been with the Senators since the 2019-20 season, stepping into his first head coaching role in the NHL after four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s commanded 310 games with Ottawa, setting a losing record of 129-149-32. Ottawa has also failed to make the playoffs under his leadership, although they’ve only managed three playoff berths since 2010.

It’s been a different coaching experience for Smith, who proved highly successful in his time as the head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals from 2012 to 2015. Through his three years with the Generals, he led the team to three playoff runs, capping it off with a run to the J. Ross Robertson Cup and a Memorial Cup win. Smith’s championship-winning Generals lineup was led by Michael Dal Colle and Cole Cassels, with support from standouts like Anthony Cirelli, Michael McCarron, and Mitchell Vande Sompel.

Garrioch emphasized that Staios is hoping that Ottawa can right the ship before a coaching change is necessary. The team has played the fewest games in the league in the early season, three fewer than anyone else in the Atlantic Division, and ranks 23rd in the league in point percentage. The team could regroup as they catch up to their peers in games played. But if they can’t, changes could continue to flow in for a Senators team currently facing a new owner and general manager.

Ottawa Senators Send Matthew Highmore To AHL

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Earlier this morning, the Ottawa Senators announced they would be sending forward Matthew Highmore to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Highmore had previously been recalled twice in November, tallying one assist in six games for Ottawa.

In his first season with the Senators organization, Highmore is following up on a very productive season spent with the St.Louis Blues organization last year. Playing in only two NHL games, Highmore was extremely productive for the Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, scoring 19 goals and 42 assists in 68 games, which would be good for second on the team in total scoring.

Aside from last season in the AHL, Highmore has been a milder scorer at the professional level, and purely a depth forward at the NHL level. Back in the 2021-22 season spent with the Vancouver Canucks, Highmore scored five goals and seven assists in 46 games played, which still holds up as his best career season to date.

Nevertheless, the demotion of Highmore is likely meant to clear cap space, as Ottawa will be expecting back forward Ridly Greig as soon as next week. Greig currently sits on the Senators’ long-term injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury on November 2nd. Before the injury, Greig scored two goals and five assists in nine games, and still sits 10th on the team in scoring, despite missing a month of action.

Senators Activate Thomas Chabot

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The Senators have officially removed defenseman Thomas Chabot from long-term injured reserve, per CapFriendly. Chabot can now officially return to the lineup Friday against the Blue Jackets, where he’s expected to comprise the team’s second defense pairing alongside Artem Zub.

Tomorrow will mark Chabot’s first appearance since October 26, when he sustained a right-hand fracture in a game against the Islanders. The team immediately announced he would miss four to six weeks and placed him on LTIR, freeing up precious salary cap space for a team that had to open the season short a skater due to cap constraints. Just a few days into his projected return window, Chabot is ready to go.

His recovery has forced some cap gymnastics, as CapFriendly notes. Forwards Ridly Greig and Mark Kastelic, who have been out of the lineup since early this month, were both retroactively placed on LTIR to free up cap space. Given that LTIR requires a player to miss at least ten games and 28 days due to an injury, Greig and Kastelic will miss at least two more games with their lower-body injuries. They remain listed as week-to-week and will be eligible to return on December 5 against the Rangers.

Even under LTIR, the Senators now have only $148K in available cap space with an active roster of 21 players.

Outside of the financials, this news is quite pertinent for a Senators team looking to dig itself out of last place in the Atlantic Division and get back into the playoff conversation by New Year’s Day. Injuries have limited Chabot over the past few seasons – he’s missed roughly 25% of Ottawa’s games dating back to the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. When in the lineup, though, he remains an extremely valuable piece of the Senators’ puzzle. He routinely averages the most ice time of nearly any defender in the league, staying over the 24-minute mark for six straight seasons. He has a long history of positive relative possession numbers, too, and has produced at a 0.64 points-per-game clip since transitioning into a top-pairing role in 2018.

Before sustaining the fracture, Chabot had logged three assists and a -1 rating in seven appearances.

Thomas Chabot Set To Return On Friday

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The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch shared that star defenseman Thomas Chabot will return to the lineup in the team’s Friday matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Chabot has missed the last 10 games with a broken right hand suffered on October 26th against the New York Islanders.

Chabot has appeared in seven games this season, recording three assists, two penalty minutes, and a -1. He’s coming off a career year, scoring 41 points in 68 games last season. It was the second-most that Chabot has scored in a single season, with his career-high coming in the 2018-19 season when Chabot scored 55 points in 70 games. Chabot, 26, is in the fourth season of an eight-year contract extension signed in 2019.

Other injury notes around the league:

  • New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert shared that forward Matt Martin is close to returning to action, but that his activation from injured reserve was more precautionary than anything. Lambert said that forwards Simon Holmstrom and Cal Clutterbuck missed the team’s Monday practice with illness and were questionable for the team’s Tuesday night game against the New Jersey Devils. Both players suited up for the matchup – with Clutterbuck even scoring a goal – delaying Martin’s return.
  • New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared that there is currently no timetable for Dougie Hamilton’s return from an upper-body injury. He will remain questionable for the team’s Thursday night game in Philadelphia. Ruff also shared that center Erik Haula will be out against Philadelphia, and that Timo Meier returned to skating on his own on Wednesday.

Snapshots: Vilardi, MacEwen, Foudy, Willman

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The Winnipeg Jets have shared that Gabriel Vilardi is not yet ready to return, although he is continuing to progress in his recovery from a knee injury. The forward is expected to be a game-time decision for the Jets’ Thursday night matchup. Vilardi suffered an MCL sprain early on in the season and was expected to miss four to six weeks.

The 24-year-old Vilardi has only managed three appearances with Winnipeg this season, netting one assist and a -1. It’s his first year with the club after joining via trade in June, moving to Winnipeg alongside Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari in the deal that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings. Winnipeg tendered a qualifying offer to Vilardi and was headed towards salary arbitration, before the avoided arbitration with a two-year, $6.9MM contract.

Vilardi had the best season of his young career last year, netting 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games with the Kings. He also added four points in five playoff games. The scoring brings his career totals up to 41 goals and 79 points through 155 games, stretched across the last four seasons. Vilardi was previously drafted 11th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season. He is one of four players from the 2017 draft class’ Top 15 to not yet eclipse 200 career NHL games, alongside Cody Glass, Cal Foote, and Lias Andersson.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Ottawa Senators forward Zack MacEwen has been fined $2,018.23 – the maximum allowed under the CBA – for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty taken in Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers. MacEwen targeted Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk late in the game, receiving a five-minute match penalty for a check to the head in the game. MacEwen has appeared in six Senators games this season, scoring one assist and totaling 25 penalty minutes.
  • Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar shared that forward Jean-Luc Foudy is suffering from a lower-body injury. Bednar also shared that the team doesn’t yet know when to expect Foudy back. Foudy has yet to play this season and is currently on the team’s injured reserve. He scored 36 points in 46 AHL games last season. He was also rewarded his first nine NHL games last year, going without a point and recording a -3.
  • The New Jersey Devils have assigned forward Maxwell Willman to the Utica Comets of the AHL. Willman has appeared in four games with the Devils this season, netting one goal. He’s also appeared in seven AHL games, scoring four goals and seven points. The 28-year-old forward has totaled 54 NHL games and seven points across his career, making his debut with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2021-22 season.

Joonas Korpisalo Available To Play Monday

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  • Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo will be an option in goal against the Panthers tonight, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays. After making 37 saves on 41 shots in the Senators’ first Global Series game against the Red Wings on November 16, Korpisalo sat out the second overseas contest against the Wild as well as last Friday’s game against the Islanders with a minor undisclosed ailment which the team described as general soreness. This was an expected development after the Senators returned top goalie prospect Mads Søgaard to the minors yesterday. The 29-year-old is improving after a rocky start to his Senators career, solidifying himself as the team’s number-one option with a 5-4-0 record, .906 SV%, and 1.3 goals saved above average through ten starts.

Ottawa Senators Reassign Roby Järventie, Mads Søgaard

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In advance of tomorrow’s game against the Florida Panthers, the Ottawa Senators have reassigned netminder Mads Søgaard and forward Roby Järventie to their AHL affiliate, the Bellville Senators.

With Søgaard, this reassignment is likely an indication that starter Joonas Korpisalo is ready to at least dress as the backup goalie tomorrow against the Panthers. Korpisalo had been injured, prompting the Søgaard recall, but there was hope that he’d be ready for the Florida game tomorrow. With this reassignment, it now appears those hopes have become reality.

Søgaard, 22, did not see game action in his latest NHL stint with Ottawa. He has been strong in eight games as the starter for Belleville, posting a 4-3 record, 2.35 goals-against-average, and .923 save percentage.

As for Järventie, this reassignment is less based on roster juggling and likely more about performance. Given the first NHL opportunity of his career, Järventie didn’t receive many minutes and didn’t do very much with the ice time he did receive. Other than registering his first NHL point in a surprising victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on November eighth, Järventie didn’t make much of a mark.

He’s been significantly better at the AHL level, though, and has scored 33 points in his last 46 games there. Now headed back to Belleville, the 21-year-old 2020 33rd overall pick will look to have a productive stretch and potentially earn another shot at the NHL level.

Andlauer Given Extension For Exclusive Negotiating Rights At LeBreton Flats

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  • Senators owner Michael Andlauer has received an extension on determining if LeBreton Flats is the right location for a new arena, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports. Originally, their exclusivity agreement was set to expire in the fall but will now go until next September.  This location has long been viewed as the best fit for a new building although Andlauer and his ownership group will need time to look into an assess other potential opportunities which this extension will give him a chance to do.

Senators Recall Matthew Highmore, Mads Søgaard

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The Ottawa Senators recalled forward Matthew Highmore and goaltender Mads Søgaard from AHL Belleville on Friday morning, per a team release. Highmore was brought up on a traditional recall, while Søgaard’s recall is under emergency conditions.

That’s because Senators starter Joonas Korpisalo is not ready to return from an undisclosed injury and will miss today’s game against the Islanders. Søgaard, who was already ferried up and down last week due to the team’s trip to Stockholm for the NHL Global Series, will likely serve as the backup to Anton Forsberg in today’s contest.

Søgaard, the 22-year-old Dane, was selected 37th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft and is still viewed as the Senators’ netminder of the future. He carries an absolutely massive frame at 6-foot-8 and nearly 200 pounds that’s translated into some strong numbers.

Now in his fourth pro season, Søgaard is off to his best start yet. In eight games with Belleville, he’s recorded a strong 2.35 GAA, .923 SV%, one shutout, and a 4-3-0 record.

Søgaard got an extended NHL look last season, starting 17 games in the wake of injuries to both Forsberg and former Senator Cam Talbot. Across 19 NHL starts and 21 total appearances over the last two seasons, he’s posted a 9-7-3 record, .889 SV%, and 3.30 GAA. There’s certainly room for technical improvement in his game – he won’t reach his ceiling in the NHL just based on his size.

Meanwhile, Highmore returns to the Senators’ roster on his second recall of the month. He skated in three games earlier this month, recording one assist and averaging only 7:59 per game.

Highmore could draw into the lineup in today’s game, but it’s not a guarantee. With him on the roster, Ottawa has 13 healthy forwards. Ridly Greig and Mark Kastelic remain out of the lineup and on injured reserve.

The 27-year-old is in his first season with the Senators organization after inking a one-year, two-way deal in free agency last summer. He’s notched seven points and a -9 rating through nine games with Belleville this season. A veteran of over 140 NHL games, he’s a rather experienced option to come up from the minors and slide into the Senators’ bottom six.

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