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Senators Waive Michael Del Zotto

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Ottawa’s farm team will be beginning their playoffs next week and the Senators sent down several players today to help on that front.  Their intention is to send one more down as James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Michael Del Zotto has been placed on waivers today for the purpose of being sent to Belleville.

Del Zotto has already cleared waivers once this season back in December.  After that happened, he became a productive player in Belleville, collecting 27 points in 26 games which earned him a recall back to the big club after the trade deadline.  The 31-year-old picked up seven points for Ottawa after that stretch and wrapped up his year with three goals and ten assists in 26 games while averaging 18:15 per game.  Those 13 points matched his total in Columbus from 2020-21 but he needed 27 fewer games to get there this season.

Del Zotto has one year remaining on his contract with a $2MM cap hit and a $2.25MM salary.  He has been a speculative buyout candidate as a result of him being in the minors for half the season so it’s unlikely he’ll be claimed; he’d be ineligible to play in the NHL or AHL playoffs if someone was to pick him up by 1 PM CT on Sunday.  But after a decent offensive season, there could be interest in him later in the offseason if the Sens are willing to retain part of his contract to facilitate a trade.

Andrew Peeke To Play In World Championship; Josh Norris Will Not

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Another name for Team USA at the upcoming World Championship has emerged, as Andrew Peeke will head to Finland for the event next month according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Peeke’s first full season in the NHL will come to an end tonight when the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It’s been an impressive year for the 24-year-old defenseman, who quickly went from organizational depth to top-pairing option. Over his last 45 games, Peeke has averaged nearly 24 minutes a night, racking up hits and blocked shots while carrying a huge defensive load. His deployment at even-strength is skewed heavily toward the defensive end, he averages more penalty-killing time than anyone else on the Blue Jackets roster, and his 168 blocks and 191 hits lead all Columbus defenders by a wide margin.

All of that comes at a cap hit of just $787.5K, as Peeke signed a two-year contract last summer that is paying him the league minimum this year. While he doesn’t provide much offense–just two goals and 15 points in 81 games–he’s still been one of the most valuable players on the Blue Jackets all season long. He’ll now be rewarded by getting a chance to represent his country on the international stage, something that hasn’t happened very often throughout his career. This will be his first chance at the World Championship, and though he did make the 2018 World Junior squad and played in one Hlinka-Gretzky, he isn’t a product of the USNTDP like so many others, which has limited his exposure to international tournaments.

The U.S. team will unfortunately not have Josh Norris, however, as Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that the Ottawa Senators forward has turned down the opportunity to play at the event. Norris is a pending restricted free agent, a status that often leads to players declining an invitation as they try to secure their future. Just 22, the San Jose draft pick scored 34 goals this season in just 65 games and looks like a candidate for a long-term extension. With no arbitration eligibility though, the Senators could go for a bridge deal or even squeeze him into a one-year, extremely inexpensive contract, if they want to try and maximize savings.

Connor Brown, Colin White Out Rest Of Season

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  • The Ottawa Senators had an exciting reinforcement at practice today as Shane Pinto joined the group, but he won’t actually play before the end of the season. Pinto hasn’t played since November, and totaled just five games on the season. It was more bad news when head coach D.J. Smith took the podium after practice, announcing that Colin White and Connor Brown are both not expected to play again this season. Brown is dealing with nagging injuries and his inclusion in the upcoming World Championship will be up to him and how he feels in the coming weeks. Brown finishes the disappointing year with ten goals and 39 points in 64 games.

Matt Murray Hoping To Return Before The End Of The Season

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  • Senators goaltender Matt Murray is hoping to get into a game or two by the end of the season but it doesn’t seem likely to happen, mentions Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The netminder has been out for the last six weeks with a neck injury and is a speculative candidate to play for Canada at next month’s World Championships.  An appearance or two in the final week for Ottawa would go a long way towards demonstrating that he’ll be able to play in that tournament.

Senators Activate Thomas Chabot

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Although Thomas Chabot had previously been ruled out for the season with a fractured hand, there was some hope that the Senators could get their top defenseman back for a game or two before the year comes to an end.  That will indeed be the case as TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that Chabot took the morning skate and will return to the lineup tonight against Montreal.

The 25-year-old has had another impressive season on Ottawa’s back end, collecting 34 points in 55 games and he still leads the team in points by defensemen despite missing 22 contests.  More importantly for them, he has logged heavy minutes once again, averaging 26:23 minutes per game to lead the NHL, the third straight season that he has reached the 26-minute mark in ATOI, the only player in the league to do so.  Even though the games will be meaningless in the standings, his return will certainly be a welcome one as a result.

It’s expected that Chabot, if healthy, will be asked to represent Team Canada at next month’s World Championships so these last few games will also serve as a testing ground to see if he’ll be good to go for that tournament.  It would be his second time playing in that event having also played in it back in 2019.

Scott Sabourin Recalled, Connor Brown Out Tonight

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  • The Senators have recalled winger Scott Sabourin from AHL Belleville, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link).  He’ll be taking the place of Connor Brown who is out with an injury.  Sabourin has 16 points and 70 penalty minutes in 38 minor league contests this season.

Snapshots: Byron, Team Canada, Perbix

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Paul Byron can’t catch a break. The veteran forward has been limited to just 26 games this season due to injury. While many of these absences came while Byron was recovering from hip surgery, he has continued to be in and out of the lineup ever since he returned. The Montreal Canadiens announced that he was returning to the lineup on Tuesday night – but the return was short-lived. Less than two periods into the game, the Habs revealed that Byron has left the game and would not return due to a lower-body injury. Its unclear if this is another new injury or a reoccurrence of his hip issue. Either way, with just five games remaining in a lost season, it might be time for Montreal to simply shut Byron down for the year. Byron has one year remaining on his contract and will be back with the Canadiens in 2022-23 if he isn’t traded or bought out.

  • The Canadian entry into the upcoming IIHF World Championship may look very familiar to the fans of a Canadian NHL team. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that Senators head coach D.J. Smith, who will be an assistant for Team Canada, has recruited several of his star players to join the tournament. If healthy, Drake Batherson, Connor Brown, and Thomas Chabot will suit up for Canada. Health is a question though; Chabot is currently on the injured reserve with a fractured hand and Batherson and Brown have both missed time due to injury this season and may not rush to play extra games if those issues flare up.
  • Another notable name has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Defenseman Jack Perbix, an Anaheim Ducks fourth-round pick in 2018, is leaving the University of Minnesota. Most would have expected that if Perbix was leaving the Gophers, it would be for the NHL. Older brother Nick Perbix, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, signed his entry level contract last month after four years at St. Cloud State University. Rather than follow suit, Jack will instead stay in college for his senior year but will don a different jersey and have a different name on his degree.

Ottawa Senators Place Colin White In COVID-19 Protocol

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The Ottawa Senators announced that forward Colin White was placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol ahead of tonight’s game at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Defenseman Victor Mete will take his place in the lineup for tonight. It’s not immediately clear whether White tested positive or if he is in protocol for other related reasons.

The NHL has seen a vastly decreased number of players in COVID protocol in the past couple of months due to several factors, however White’s absence is a reminder that these protocols are still in place and can still creep up on teams when they don’t necessarily expect it. As of right now, White appears to be the only player affected for Ottawa, with no further announcements on other players or staff thus far.

White has been somewhat of a disappointment this year for Ottawa, with just 10 points in 24 games. The forward spent the majority of the season on IR, making his season debut on February 26th. Though his numbers are not too far off from his career averages, White signed a lucrative six-year, $28.5MM contract, carrying an AAV of $4.75MM, prior to the 2019-20 season. Despite the contract, White is still waiting for the true breakout season that Ottawa has seen from the likes of Joshua Norris, Brady Tkachuk, and Drake Batherson.

Smith: Joseph's Injury A Little Worse Than Expected

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Mathieu Joseph has made an immediate impression on the Senators who acquired him before the trade deadline in a swap that sent Nick Paul to Tampa Bay.  After being in a limited role with the Lightning, the 25-year-old has had a chance to play a bigger role in Ottawa and has made the most of it, notching 12 points in 11 games.  However, his season may have come to an early end as head coach D.J. Smith told TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link) that his injury is a little worse than they expected and will keep him out longer than anticipated.  While Smith stated that the injury isn’t serious, with only two weeks left in the season, it’s possible that Joseph has played his final game of 2021-22.  A restricted free agent this summer with arbitration eligibility, Joseph appears to be in line to land considerably more than his $813K qualifying offer.

Snapshots: Kadri, Brown, Michigan State

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The injury situation for the Colorado Avalanche’s top six forwards went from bad to worse over a week ago when Nazem Kadri went down with an upper-body injury. While the team did expect Kadri to be healthy before the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater reports that he could be back well before then, potentially returning to the lineup within the next week. Kadri actually still leads the Avalanche with 83 points, a mark he’s held as Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog have both missed significant time with injuries this year. The team’s actually only played three games without Kadri, as a sparse schedule over the past week and a half has done them favors. J.T. Compher has filled in Kadri’s spot, registering two points in three games (both came against Pittsburgh on April 5th). With Colorado having a stranglehold on the Western Conference regular-season title, the Avalanche hope to get Kadri back in order to continue building chemistry among their new acquisitions as the playoffs near.

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