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Senators Up For Sale; Pinto Wins Award

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The Ottawa Senators could be next on the list of NHL franchises being sold, as Sportico reports that the organization has hired Galatioto Sports Partners to aid in the sale, the same group that is currently selling the Los Angeles Angels of the MLB. Sportico places the Senators’ franchise value at $655MM.

Control of the Senators transitioned to Anna and Olivia Melnyk earlier this year when long-time owner Eugene Melnyk passed away. The most recent sales in the NHL have been the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators, the latter of which is being finalized currently.

  • One of the reasons that the Senators have raised in value and expectations so quickly is because of the play of their young stars. Shane Pinto, one of those youngsters, was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for October. With six goals in eight games, Pinto is tied with Brady Tkachuk for the team lead.

Ottawa Senators Recall Dillon Heatherington

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The Ottawa Senators have announced that defenseman Dillon Heatherington has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. This recall comes after it was revealed earlier today that top-pairing defenseman Artem Zub will be out for one to two weeks with an upper-body injury.

Heatherington, 27, has become a bit of a journeyman since he was drafted 50th overall at the 2013 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a solid career with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos, Heatherington turned pro in the Blue Jackets organization and spent parts of three seasons playing for their AHL affiliates. He was then sent to the Dallas Stars in a trade for Lauri Korpikoski, and he made his NHL debut as a member of their organization.

After a 2019-20 season that did not include any call-ups to the main squad in Dallas, Heatherington left North America to continue his pro career with Barys Nur-Sultan of the KHL. He spent year there before being signed by the Senators, and last season he played in a depth role, getting into 45 games at the AHL level and nine NHL games.

With this call-up, it seems that the well-traveled Heatherington is in place to get some more NHL games under his belt. It’s likely that veteran defenseman Nick Holden will enter the lineup in Zub’s place, but now that Heatherington is on the roster it’s possible he gets a look as well.

The Senators are 4-3-0 at the moment and are looking to endure some early injury troubles and keep pace in an extremely competitive Atlantic Division.

Artem Zub Out With Upper-Body Injury

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One of the most underrated parts of the Ottawa Senators rebuild might be the acquisition of Artem Zub, an undrafted defenseman out of the KHL. After signing in 2020, Zub has become one of the team’s most reliable players at any position, even at times ahead of Thomas Chabot (at least in the defensive end).

Zub effectively shuts down rushes with an active stick, engages physically in front of his own net, and quietly logs huge minutes in tough situations for the Senators. He is averaging 22 minutes a night through six games this season, minutes that unfortunately are going to have to be spread out for the next little while. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that Zub will miss one to two weeks with an upper-body injury. Chabot, who was also missing today, is okay and will be ready tomorrow.

After winning four in a row, the Senators were thrashed by the Minnesota Wild last night, outshot 40-29 in a 4-2 loss. Notably, Zub played nearly ten minutes more than fellow Russian right-hander Nikita Zaitsev, who may be forced to take on a bigger role in his absence. Zaitsev’s game has fallen off a cliff in recent years, and can’t stay in the lineup, let alone live up to the $4.5MM cap hit he carries.

The team also could look elsewhere to fill those minutes. The Carolina Hurricanes are speaking with multiple teams on Ethan Bear, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, and the Senators do have some young options like Jacob Bernard-Docker and Lassi Thomson.

One week would mean missing three games, while two would be at least six for the injured Zub. That short timeline isn’t the end of the world, but things in Ottawa do seem to be perched precariously this season, with the difference between contending for the playoffs and contending for a lottery pick not that large. Hopefully, for their sake, the underrated defenseman will be back as soon as possible.

Latest On Josh Norris

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The Ottawa Senators got bad news yesterday when head coach D.J. Smith told the media that he was not confident that Josh Norris, a crucial top-six center in his lineup, would return to the ice this season. This unfortunate development has led many to wonder whether the Senators, led by GM Pierre Dorion, would pursue immediate upgrades to fill the hole left in their lineup by Norris’ absence. Veteran forward Derick Brassard is currently occupying Norris’ old slot in the lineup, and seeing as the Senators have hopes of contending in the Atlantic division, so they may want to upgrade on Brassard, who had 19 points in 46 games last season.

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger on today’s Insider Trading program, that’s not the direction the Senators will be headed. Dreger reports that Ottawa feels “that they are OK” despite Norris’ injury, and they believe that they have the depth in their lineup to overcome the challenges they’ll face in his absence. The Senators certainly have enviable scoring depth, and with Shane Pinto off to a scorching hot start, the need to find an immediate upgrade at center looks to be less urgent.

Snapshots: Gronborg, Heiskanen, Talbot

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One of the names that used to come up every summer in connection to vacant NHL coaching jobs is Rikard Gronborg, former long-time coach of the Swedish national team programs. Gronborg has plenty of experience on this side of the ocean, after playing college hockey at St. Cloud State, coaching in the AWHL, and serving as an assistant in the WHL. For the last few years, his candidacy hasn’t been brought up for a while because of his commitment as head coach of the ZSC Lions in Switzerland, one of the most successful and popular teams in Europe.

Today, news has broken that Gronborg won’t be back with the Lions and instead is likely taking a multi-year contract with Tappara Tampere in Finland. However, the report out of Switzerland also states that if the NHL were to come calling, Gronborg’s new contract with Tappara has an out clause to let him pursue a North American opportunity. With seven World Championship medals, six World Juniors medals, and an Olympic silver, Gronborg has one of the most impressive international coaching resumes of all time. Whether that ever translates into an opportunity in the NHL remains to be seen.

  • Miro Heiskanen is still listed as day-to-day for the Dallas Stars and isn’t expected to play tonight, he could be back on Saturday according to head coach Pete DeBoer, who spoke with reporters including Saad Yousuf of The Athletic. Without Heiskanen in the lineup against the Boston Bruins, Nils Lundkvist played a career-high 22:04. Lundkvist had never gone above 16:39 with the New York Rangers but has now matched or exceeded that in six of seven games with Dallas.
  • Cam Talbot might be back ahead of schedule, according to Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith. As Claire Hanna of TSN reports, Talbot was on the ice facing shots today and is “certainly ahead of the timeline” that had been set for him. There’s still no clear date set for his return but they could still use him, with Anton Forsberg dealing with a minor injury of his own. On that front, Forsberg was back at practice as well and is expected to be the starter when the team takes on the Minnesota Wild tonight.

Ottawa Senators Extend Mark Kastelic

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Hard work pays off. That’s the lesson to be taken from today’s announcement by the Ottawa Senators that Mark Kastelic has signed a two-year extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $835K, paying the young forward $800K in 2023-24 and $870K in 2024-25. Senators general manager Pierre Dorion released a statement:

Mark has worked tirelessly to earn all that has come his way since being a late round draft pick three years ago. He’s reliable, competitive, takes exceptional pride in his conditioning and routinely showcases a willingness to take on any challenge. He’s set a very good example for the young players and prospects throughout the organization.

Not only was he a late-round pick, selected 125th overall by the Senators in 2019, but it was in his third year of eligibility after going undrafted twice. The WHL tough guy just kept getting better as he worked harder and harder on the ice, to the point where NHL teams couldn’t overlook him anymore. His 47-goal, 122-point campaign with the Calgary Hitmen in 2018-19 landed him with Ottawa, and he would make quick work of the AHL.

Partway through last season Kastelic would come up to the Senators and make an impact right away, racking up hits and providing energy in the bottom six. He was winning draws, landing checks, and dropping the gloves, even chipping in a little bit of offense despite limited minutes. This year he’s a regular on the fourth line, and has already scored two goals in six games. It’s those faceoff numbers that are so impressive though, and why Kastelic could have a long career as a depth forward in the NHL.

He’s now won 37 of 52 draws this season for an incredible 71.2% win rate. That’s a weapon head coach D.J. Smith has relied on, despite not actually playing Kastelic very much. Even though he’s averaged just 8:23 of ice time so far, he actually leads the team in won faceoffs – and that’s on a team that doesn’t have a single centerman under 50%.

The offense that he brought in his junior days probably won’t ever come to the NHL, but at 23, Kastelic is a great story of how dedicated work can secure a spot. He’s found a niche and is excelling at it, leading to some financial security for the next two seasons.

Josh Norris Out Several Months

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Oct 26: The results of the MRI are not what any Senators fan wanted to hear. Ian Mendes of TSN reports that Norris will be out long-term (three to five months was a rough estimate), though surgery has not been confirmed yet. Head coach D.J. Smith is not confident that the young forward will even play again this season, though he is holding out hope.

Oct 24: The Ottawa Senators will be without one of their top centers for at least the next two weeks. Josh Norris will miss that time after suffering a shoulder injury over the weekend, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, who adds that the young forward is waiting on the results of an MRI before getting a more accurate timeline.

Ottawa moved Derick Brassard into the second-line center role, for the time being, quite an opportunity for a player on a PTO just a few weeks ago. He’ll line up between Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, though the team could always move Shane Pinto into that role during Norris’ absence.

It’s a tough start for the 23-year-old Norris, who is coming off a breakout 35-goal campaign and starting an eight-year, $63.6MM contract. Norris did score against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday but ended up playing just 14:32. Missing a couple of weeks isn’t the end of the world, but if the injury is deemed more serious and keeps Norris out for longer than that, it could be a huge blow to an Ottawa team that has turned things around after a slow start.

With wins in each of their last three, the Senators are now back in the mix in the Atlantic Division, exactly what they expected after an impressive offseason. Their potential was always tied to the forward depth they accumulated but now with Norris on the sideline and Alex Formenton still unsigned, there are some cracks showing.

The team is back in action tonight against the Dallas Stars.

Ottawa Senators Assign Kevin Mandolese To AHL

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Oct 25: It doesn’t matter who is in net for the Senators these days, they’ll win it anyway. After Hellberg secured the victory, the team has sent Mandolese back to the AHL.

Oct 24: After announcing this morning that Joshua Norris would miss at least two weeks, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Ottawa Senators have moved him to injured reserve. The player the team has decided to recall in his place, however, will certainly cause some panic among the fan base. The team has called up goaltender Kevin Mandolese, and Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia tweets that Anton Forsberg was on the ice ahead of morning skate but did not participate in it.

That means Magnus Hellberg might be in line for his first start with Mandolese as the backup, something that no one would have expected a few weeks ago. As the season approached, it appeared as though the Senators would be going with a veteran tandem of Cam Talbot and Forsberg. After Talbot’s preseason injury and now Forsberg apparently dealing with something of his own, the team is onto a tandem with just five appearances at the NHL level.

Hellberg, 31, has all of them, though just one has come since 2017. The former Nashville Predators prospect left for the KHL at that point and spent five years playing overseas, before making his return as a member of the Detroit Red Wings last season. After signing a one-year deal with the Seattle Kraken, Hellberg was nabbed off waivers following Talbot’s injury and hasn’t yet appeared for the Senators.

Mandolese, meanwhile, has never played in the NHL and has just 29 appearances at the AHL level. The 22-year-old has posted an .863 in three starts this year with the Belleville Senators, allowing 11 goals on 80 shots.

If there is any silver lining, it is that after tonight against the Dallas Stars, the team won’t play again until Thursday. If Forsberg was healthy enough to get back on the ice this morning, perhaps he won’t miss much more time than this evening.

Tyler Ennis Signs In Switzerland

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After lots of discussion about whether he would head to Europe, O2K Sports Management today confirmed that their client, free agent forward Tyler Ennis, has signed on with SC Bern in the NL for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

Bern is already off to a strong 8-2-4 start, but only three of those eight wins have come in regulation. Ennis essentially replaces another former NHL forward on their roster, Dominik Kahun, who is expected back from a shoulder injury in early December. Kahun had eight points through his first seven games.

Ennis should headline what is already a red-hot offense for Bern to start the year, spearheaded by a trio of former NHLers: Christopher Didomenico (18 points in 12 games), Colton Sceviour (11 points in 14 games), and Oscar Lindberg (10 points in 14 games). In his last stint in the NL (then the NLA) during the brief 2012-13 lockout, Ennis had eight points in nine games with the SCL Tigers.

The veteran of exactly 700 NHL games had a rather productive season last year with the Ottawa Senators in a depth role, notching 24 points in 57 games, but there were no takers for Ennis on the free agent market last offseason. Now 33 years old, the speedy, diminutive forward likely closed the book on his NHL career by heading overseas. If so, he finished with 144 goals, 202 assists, and 346 points across 13 seasons with the Senators, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, and Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him 26th overall in 2008.

Josh Norris To Have MRI

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  • Earlier this afternoon, Ottawa Senators forward Joshua Norris left their game against the Arizona Coyotes after appearing to injure his arm off the faceoff. Norris immediately left the ice in pain and appeared to throw his stick in the hallway. After the game, no update was offered on the injury itself, and that is still the case this evening. However, Friedman did say on 32 Thoughts that the plan was for Norris to have an MRI once the swelling in his arm went down. No update thus far could be seen as a bit concerning, but an MRI should give more clear results and lead to a timeline once complete.

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