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Injury Notes: Allison, Bowers, Knyzhov

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A trio of roster transactions involving injured players were made tonight, starting with the Philadelphia Flyers. According to CapFriendly, the team has moved forward Wade Allison to injured reserve, signifying he’ll miss at least five more days with a lower-body injury.

Allison was placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 12 and will miss at least the team’s upcoming three-game road trip against Columbus, Boston, and Montreal. The 25-year-old left Saturday’s game against Ottawa after laying a hit on Senators defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, and The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor reported yesterday that Allison won’t miss too much time. Through 14 games this season, Allison has contributed three goals and an assist.

  • The Colorado Avalanche have moved forward Shane Bowers to injured reserve, according to CapFriendly, freeing up a roster spot for any potential call-ups. On Saturday, Bowers was given a six-week timeline by head coach Jared Bednar after sustaining an upper-body injury 1:46 into his NHL career. The team did not have any extra roster spots for healthy players, with all non-dressed players out with injuries.
  • The San Jose Sharks have also moved defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov to long-term injured reserve. Knyzhov, 24, has not played hockey since suiting up for all 56 games of the shortened 2020-21 season. A groin injury kept him out for the entirety of 2021-22, and an Achilles injury is expected to keep him out until mid-February.

Smith: Hopeful Zub Can Return By The End Of The Week

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  • While the Senators were hoping to have defenseman Artem Zub back by now, it appears that he’ll be out a little while longer. Speaking to TSN 1200 earlier today (audio link), head coach D.J. Smith indicated that the 27-year-old is behind schedule but that he should be able to return by the end of the upcoming week.  Zub is a pending unrestricted free agent and was averaging just shy of 22 minutes a game before sustaining an upper-body injury last month.

Thomas Chabot Placed On IR, Out At Least One Week

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1:08 pm: According to CapFriendly, the Senators have placed Chabot on IR. The team recalled defenseman Jacob Larsson this morning to fill the place left by Chabot.

11:29 am: There’s now some clarity on the injury that Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot sustained from receiving a hit in yesterday’s game against Philadelphia. Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan reports that Chabot is out at least one week with a concussion, noting that the Senators will be “cautious” with his return to the lineup.

Chabot left the game 34 seconds in the second period when he was hit into the boards behind the net by Flyers forward Travis Konecny. He did not return to the game, and Konecny did not receive a penalty on the play.

Once again, the 26-year-old Chabot has been responsible for logging huge minutes in Ottawa. His 25:45 average time on ice per game leads all Senators skaters by a good bit, with the injured Artem Zub coming in second (21:59). Through 14 games, Ottawa’s number one defenseman had three goals, three assists, six points, and a -4 rating.

With Chabot and Zub (upper-body injury, day-to-day) both out, for the time being, rookie Jake Sanderson will be thrust into the spotlight as the team’s temporary number-one defenseman. The 20-year-old has started his NHL career strong, recording seven assists in 14 games and leading the team with a +5 rating.

Losing Chabot at least through November 19 means they’ll be without him for a pair of tough matchups against the Islanders and Devils, as well as a divisional rival in Buffalo. The Senators remain last in the Atlantic Division with a 5-8-2 record.

Ottawa Senators Recall Jacob Larsson

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The Ottawa Senators recalled defenseman Jacob Larsson from the AHL’s Belleville Senators Sunday morning, according to the team’s communications department. The transaction comes after Thomas Chabot sustained an injury in yesterday’s 4-1 road win in Philadelphia.

Ottawa did have an extra healthy defenseman on the roster in Nikita Zaitsev, but he was waived last Wednesday after seeing his role diminish dramatically to start the season. He did clear waivers but has yet to be assigned to the minors. Larsson comes up instead, bringing 165 games of NHL experience with Anaheim to the active roster.

However, Larsson saw his semi-full-time NHL role disappear last season, playing just six games with the Ducks compared to 55 with AHL San Diego. He was waived and assigned to Belleville to begin the 2022-23 campaign, where he has two assists and a -10 rating in 12 games.

As for Chabot, the length of his absence is unknown as of last night. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman did note that if Chabot misses any meaningful length of time, it could speed up Ottawa’s already well-established desire to acquire a defenseman via trade to upgrade their blue line. The team is yet again lagging behind expectations, sitting last in the Atlantic Division with a 5-8-1 record. Injuries have certainly been a factor in their sluggish start.

TSN’s Bruce Garrioch notes that Larsson’s recall signifies that Chabot will likely miss at least tomorrow’s game against the New York Islanders.

Ottawa Senators Pursuit Of Defenseman Could Intensify; Chabot's Status Not Yet Known

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Rumors that the Ottawa Senators were interested in adding a defenseman to bolster their blueline have persisted since the beginning of this offseason. Over that time, the team has brought in a few exciting forwards like Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat, acquired goaltender in Cam Talbot and saw forward Shane Pinto start to break out. Still, the team hasn’t been able to find the defenseman they were looking for. Recent struggles from the team have ignited those rumors even more, with the waiving of Nikita Zaitsev this week seeming to be the ’cherry on top.’ However, today’s Thomas Chabot injury has managed to heat things up even more.

On this evening’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Chabot’s status in relation to the injury was unknown, but that it could certainly accelerate Ottawa’s process to find another defenseman. Friedman adds that other executives around the league have confirmed that Senators GM Pierre Dorion has been “looking under every rock” when it comes to a defenseman. Still, Dorion may be hesitant, given the team’s situation, he could easily be handcuffed into a pricey move he may not truly want to make. On top of this, another reason Friedman mentions that could hold up a trade is the number of players who have no-trade clauses excluding most, if not all Canadian cities.

Ottawa Senators To Retire Chris Neil’s Number

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According to a team release during their game Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks, the Ottawa Senators are retiring forward Chris Neil’s number 25 on February 17, 2023, in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Neil shattered expectations as a sixth-round pick, dressing in over 1,000 games – all with the Senators. His career totals of 112 goals, 138 assists, and 250 points aren’t really retired number material, but that was never the focal point of Neil’s game. His 2,522 career penalty minutes mark his enforcing playstyle, and only he and former New Jersey Devil Ken Daneyko have over 1,000 games played and 2,500 penalty minutes while spending their entire career with a single franchise.

Number 25 will join three other numbers in the Canadian Tire Centre rafters: original Senator Frank Finnigan’s number 8, Daniel Alfredsson’s number 11, and Chris Phillips’ number 4.

Admittedly, it’s a rare occurrence to see an enforcer gifted with the honor of a retired number. Careers with Neil’s resume are usually destined for accolades such as an organizational Hall of Fame or ring of honor. But Neil’s bruising game was a hallmark of the team’s most successful stretch in franchise history throughout the 2000s, providing energy on and off the ice every night. He remains a notable off-ice presence in the Ottawa community since retiring in 2017.

General manager Pierre Dorion released a statement on Neil’s number retirement:

Chris was a team-first player, a physical presence who never backed down from a challenge. He earned his place every single day through hard work and dedication; he was the ultimate character player and wore the Senators sweater with as much or more pride than any other player in this team’s history.

Latest On Ottawa Senators Ownership Interest

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Since nearly the moment the Ottawa Senators initiated a process of sale, actor Ryan Reynolds has been linked to the team. What began as a playful emoji response on Twitter grew some legs, and last night on The Tonight Show, Reynolds directly addressed the speculation. Admitting that he is trying to get involved, he noted that he would need financial partners with “deep pockets” to put a bid together.

The 46-year-old Hollywood star purchased Wrexham AFC, a low-level professional football club in Wales last year and has a stake in FuboTV, a sports streaming service that includes the NHL in certain regions.

Another potential buyer is Jeff York, brother of former NHL player Jason York and Farm Boy executive. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reported a few days ago that while York is also trying to put together a group to make the purchase, the NHL would prefer a single owner with a large majority stake. York was part of a group with a rival bid on the LeBreton Flats development project in 2016 when former Senators owner Eugene Melnyk appeared to be close to a downtown arena before lawsuits derailed the process.

The Senators have hired Galatioto Sports Partners to assist in the transaction and there is no risk of relocation at this time.

Ottawa Senators Not Considering Coaching Change

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There were a lot of expectations for the Ottawa Senators coming into this year. They had a young core of exciting forwards, and added star power like Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux to the mix. Top pick Jake Sanderson was supposed to give the defense corps a huge boost, while Cam Talbot was brought in to solidify the goaltending. Things got off to an okay start, with four wins in the first six games, but have since gone downhill.

The Senators now sit at 4-7 on the year after losing their last five and speculation has started to percolate about the safety of head coach D.J. Smith. Today, when speaking with reporters, general manager Pierre Dorion wanted to make it clear that Smith wasn’t going anywhere. “D.J. is our coach and he’s going to be our coach,” he told the gathered media including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.

This is Smith’s fourth season behind the bench in Ottawa and despite having an overall record of 85-111-24, things have generally been considered a success. The team was not expected to be competitive, was open about their rebuilding process, and yet still played hard every night under the rookie head coach. Young players like Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle, and Drake Batherson all took huge leaps in production, and the team was in the top half of the league on the penalty kill, something that is often attributed to the coaching staff.

Still, it’s time to start winning.

One thing that Smith has in his favor is Talbot, who looks sharp since coming back from an injury that kept him out the first month of the season. In two appearances he has stopped 39 of 41 shots and should soon become that stabilizing presence he was brought in as. Whether they can actually turn that strong goaltending into wins is another story, especially with the state of their defense.

While Sanderson has been strong in his rookie season, it’s hard to place much responsibility on a 20-year-old that has just barely started his professional journey. With Artem Zub out, the defense has looked like a jumbled mess, made up of players seeing more ice time than they probably should. Zub is expected back soon but it remains to be seen whether this group will do enough for the team to turn things around. Even with today’s front office support, Smith’s job may depend on it.

Josh Norris Will Not Require Surgery

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After seeing five different doctors and two specialists, it has been determined that Josh Norris will not require shoulder surgery, according to Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. As Claire Hanna of TSN relays, Dorion noted today that the team will know more in the New Year about a potential return this season.

Norris, 23, has had shoulder injuries before, including one in 2019 that essentially ended his college career. Dorion explained that this is a different injury entirely than the ones he has dealt with before, and for now he will just rehab.

While that technically qualifies as good news, it’s still a brutal outcome for the young center who is coming off an outstanding 35-goal season. He did that in just 66 games, one of the best per-game scoring rates in the NHL, ahead of players like Jake Guentzel, Steven Stamkos, Matthew Tkachuk, and Alex DeBrincat. Building on that was a big part of why so many people were bullish on the Senators this offseason, and his absence has been one of the main reasons why they have disappointed.

Norris managed just five games and two points. With no clear timeline on when he can return, this may end up being a wasted season for the young forward and one that potentially hinders his long-term development. That would be a worst-case scenario for the Senators, who committed eight years and $63.6MM to him in the offseason. That $7.95MM cap hit makes him the 38th most expensive forward in the league this season, only a touch below Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

Ottawa Senators Recall Jacob Bernard-Docker

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The Ottawa Senators still don’t appear to have Artem Zub returning, as they have recalled Jacob Bernard-Docker from the minor leagues. Bernard-Docker was sent down just yesterday after his most recent call-up.

Ottawa is on a long losing skid after dropping another game on Saturday and now find themselves stuck at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. Bernard-Docker hasn’t played for the club yet this season, bouncing up and down instead of getting into the lineup. In eight games at the minor league level, he has just a single point.

With the losses piling up, it’s hard to imagine that the young defenseman will be held out again. The team is back in action tomorrow night before heading out on the road for two games. Zub, out since the end of October with an upper-body injury, has been skating with the team and is expected back at some point in the next few matches.

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