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Donovan Sebrango

Senators Recall Twelve Players

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With the Senators in the playoffs and their farm team in Belleville not making the playoffs, Ottawa has determined which players will be joining the team as their Black Aces.  The team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Zack MacEwen, Angus Crookshank, Stephen Halliday, Cole Reinhardt, Jan Jenik, Tyler Boucher, Garrett Pilon, and Wyatt Bongiovanni, along with defenseman Donovan Sebrango and goaltender Mads Sogaard have all been recalled from Belleville.

In addition, the Sens have also recalled two players from the major junior ranks.  Defenseman Carter Yakemchuk was brought up from WHL Calgary while blueliner Tomas Hamara was recalled from OHL Brantford.

Among the recalls, MacEwen saw the most game action with Ottawa this season, playing in 21 games where he had three points and 49 hits in a little under eight minutes a night of action.  Reinhardt had two points in 17 outings while Crookshank had an assist in eight contests.  Jenik, Sebrango, and Sogaard all got into a pair of games and were held off the scoresheet while Sogaard allowed eight goals on just 40 shots.

Looking at the AHL recalls who didn’t play with Ottawa this season, Halliday and Pilon were Belleville’s top scorers, checking in with 51 and 48 points, respectively.  Meanwhile, Bongiovanni tied Crookshank for the team lead in goals with 22.  Boucher, meanwhile, had just 10 points in 47 games this season, not a great showing for the tenth overall pick from 2021.

Yakemchuk very briefly made Ottawa’s roster out of training camp before being sent back without playing a game.  He was the seventh pick in last year’s draft and had a solid year with the Hitmen, picking up 49 points in 56 games.  As for Hamara, he also checked in just below the point-per-game mark with the Bulldogs, notching 55 in 58 appearances.

These recalls could be short-lived, however.  Ottawa is down 3-0 in their opening round series against Toronto so the series could be over as soon as tonight.  But regardless of how long their postseason push lasts, the Sens now have their extra skaters in place.

Senators Activate Travis Hamonic, Assign Donovan Sebrango To AHL

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The Senators are welcoming back a veteran blueliner for their game against Toronto tonight.  Per the NHL’s media site, blueliner Travis Hamonic has been activated off injured reserve.  To make room on the roster, the team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Donovan Sebrango was assigned to AHL Belleville.

Hamonic has missed the last three weeks with a lower-body injury.  Before then, he was a fixture on Ottawa’s third pairing, getting into 37 games.  Offensively, the 34-year-old has been limited to just three assists although he has 58 blocked shots and 38 hits while averaging 17:25 of playing time per night, up nearly three minutes from his ATOI in 2023-24.   Hamonic is in the final season of his contract, one that carries a $1.1MM AAV and a no-movement clause and he’ll once again be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

As for Sebrango, he was recalled last week and got into two games with Ottawa, his first taste of NHL action.  The 23-year-old didn’t record a point in those outings while averaging 10:19 of playing time.  Sebrango has played in 28 games with Belleville this season, notching three goals and ten assists, both career-highs at that level.  He’s in the final season of his entry-level deal and will be a restricted free agent this summer.

Senators Recall Donovan Sebrango

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The Senators announced they have recalled left-shot defenseman Donovan Sebrango from AHL Belleville. He replaces righty Max Guenette, who was sent to the AHL yesterday in what is now clear was a corresponding move.

Guenette had been scratched for five straight games since being recalled on Jan. 7, not seeing any work in his first recall of the year. The same fate might not befall the 23-year-old Sebrango, who will make his NHL debut tonight against the Capitals if Thomas Chabot can’t play after taking a puck to the face in Tuesday’s shutout win over the Islanders.

A third-round pick for the Red Wings in the 2020 draft, Sebrango appeared in the CHL Top Prospects game in his draft year while a member of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and won a silver medal with Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The COVID-19 pandemic immediately forced him into the professional ranks in his first post-draft season. He was on loan to Slovakia’s second-tier league and then to Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids. After an additional two seasons where he made negative progress on the Wings’ depth chart, spending a good portion of the 2022-23 campaign down in the ECHL with Toledo, he was shipped to Ottawa in the trade that sent Alex DeBrincat to Hockeytown.

A strong skater with a 6’1″, 220-lb frame, things have finally clicked for Sebrango this season. He’s already recorded three career-best goals, 10 assists, and 13 points in 38 games with Belleville, adding 42 PIMs and a plus-three rating while serving as an alternate captain. That’s a significant improvement over last year with the B-Sens, where the Ottawa native was limited to seven assists in 35 games and had a brief stint in the ECHL again.

Sebrango’s recall won’t result in much playing time, and it likely won’t give him any if Chabot can play. He joins Guenette and Nikolas Matinpalo in the group that’s seen recalls from the minors with injuries to Chabot, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Travis Hamonic, and Artem Zub over the last couple of months. He was already summoned once earlier this season but sat in the press box for a trio of games in November and December before being returned to the minors.

Sebrango is the son of Eduardo Sebrango, a retired Cuban soccer player who is now an MLS coach with CF Montreal. If he debuts, the Canadian national would be only the second player in NHL history with Cuban ethnicity, joining longtime backup netminder Al Montoya.

Senators Recall Nikolas Matinpalo

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The Senators announced they’ve recalled right-shot defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. He’ll serve as Ottawa’s extra defender for the time being while lefty Donovan Sebrango, whom they summoned last week before scratching him for three straight games, returned to the minors in a corresponding move.

Matinpalo has four career NHL games, all coming in an Ottawa uniform last season. The Sens signed the 26-year-old Finn as an undrafted free agent from Liiga’s Ässät in 2023, playing him mostly with Belleville since.

A defensive-minded blue liner with good size at 6’3″ and 212 lbs, Matinpalo averaged just seven minutes per game across last year’s early-season call-up. He recorded a +1 rating, two shots, two blocks, and four hits while controlling 53.6% of shot attempts at even strength, but he’s still looking for his first NHL point.

In 84 games for the B-Sens since the beginning of last season, Matinpalo has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points with a +13 rating. He signed a one-year, two-way extension in June, shortly before his one-year entry-level agreement was set to expire.

Meanwhile, Sebrango’s first NHL recall ends without incident. The 22-year-old, whom Ottawa acquired from the Red Wings in 2023’s Alex DeBrincat trade, is on pace for the best season of his five-year professional career with six points in 14 games for Belleville this year.

Sebrango, a third-round pick of Detroit in 2020, is set to be a restricted free agent next summer. The 6’1″, 220-lb lefty will likely stay out of NHL action until an injury affects one of the Sens’ other lefties – with their injury-related absence being righty Artem Zub, it made sense to swap Sebrango for Matinpalo on the active roster. Matinpalo will require waivers to return to Belleville if he remains on Ottawa’s roster for over 30 days or plays 10 or more games.

Senators Place Artem Zub On LTIR, Recall Donovan Sebrango

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The Ottawa Senators have placed defenseman Artem Zub on long-term injured reserve as expected. In a corresponding roster move, the organization announced the LTIR placement and the recall of defenseman Donovan Sebrango from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.

It’s an unfortunate but necessary transaction for the Senators after reports from this weekend indicated that Zub would be out ’for a while’ with a broken foot. Ottawa is likely still looking to add a defenseman via the trade market but will use Sebrango for now.

It’s becoming somewhat of a lost season for Zub. He’s already missed time in mid-to-late October with a concussion and could miss as many as two months due to the broken foot. As arguably the team’s best right-handed shooting defenseman, Sebrango will have big shoes to fill.

He’s in the second year of a four-year, $18.4MM extension originally signed in 2022. He’s tallied two assists over 11 games with the Senators this year and posted a respectable +0.5 E +/- according to Hockey Reference.

The only silver lining to the injury is that Sebrango has a clear path toward making his NHL debut. He was originally drafted with the 63rd overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, making his way to the Senators organization in the trade sending Alex DeBrincat to Detroit over a year ago.

Sebrango, 22, is in his fourth professional season collecting seven goals and 31 points in 184 games between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Belleville. There may be some initial discipline issues (149 PIMs in the AHL) but he allows Ottawa to win more puck battles in the defensive zone.

The Senators don’t play until tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks which would be an ideal matchup for Sebrango’s first game. They’ll likely play him next to Thomas Chabot or Jake Sanderson to lessen his initial responsibility if he does make his debut tomorrow.

Senators Recall Seven Players

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Saturday: The team announced that Boucher, Crookshank, Halliday, Hodgson, and Roos were all returned to Belleville today.  Reinhardt and Sebrango remain, suggesting they’ll likely play in Ottawa’s preseason finale tonight against Montreal.

Friday: The Senators have recalled forwards Tyler Boucher, Angus Crookshank, Stephen Halliday, Hayden Hodgson, Cole Reinhardt, and defensemen Filip Roos and Donovan Sebrango ahead of tomorrow’s preseason game against the Red Wings, the team announced. The group will draw into the lineup after most were assigned to AHL Belleville last week.

Boucher, 21, will get another brief look ahead of his second professional season. Injuries have plagued the 2021 10th overall pick since draft day, especially last year. He managed just 21 appearances with the B-Sens in 2023-24, struggling to make himself a factor with two goals and five points and a -4 rating. He’s made just 83 league appearances total over the past three years.

Crookshank was among the more surprising cuts, especially so early in camp. The 25-year-old left-winger looked like he’d challenge for an opening night spot after a breakout AHL campaign, recording 46 points in 50 games for Belleville last year. He also held his own in NHL action, scoring twice and adding an assist in 13 games. He’s still waiver-exempt and will be among the first players summoned from the minors if injuries strike in Ottawa.

Halliday looked like he may challenge for a fourth-line role at one point in camp, but he’ll get one last look here before heading back to the B-Sens for his first full professional season. The 2022 fourth-round pick has been a standout at Ohio State for the past two years, where he had 77 points in 78 games. He closed out the year with five assists in 10 games for Belleville last year after signing his entry-level contract. The 22-year-old will likely be in contention for a recall this season and a potential roster spot in 2025.

Hodgson cleared waivers Saturday and is unlikely to be back with the club this season after being inevitably returned to Belleville following one more preseason game. The 28-year-old winger does seven games of NHL experience, all with the Flyers during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, but has struggled heavily to put up points in the minors for the past couple of years following a brief breakout in the Philly system. He had 16 points and 116 PIMs in 49 games for AHL Ontario last year while under contract with the Kings.

Reinhardt, 24, is entering his fifth season in the Sens organization. He’s developed into a consistent middle-six winger for Belleville, though his NHL upside remains minimal this late in his development. He posted eight goals and 23 points in 56 AHL games last year.

Roos is entering his third season in North America but his first with Ottawa. The Swedish defender spent the last two seasons in the Blackhawks organization, spending most of his time with AHL Rockford but still managing 21 NHL appearances (1 G, 2 A, -9). A decent enough puck-mover, he’s likely among Ottawa’s top three or four options for an in-season recall on the blue line. he had 16 points and a -12 rating in 59 AHL contests last year.

Sebrango, 22, was a Detroit third-round pick in 2020 but doesn’t look close to making an NHL impact. After he was acquired in last summer’s Alex DeBrincat trade, he struggled to find a regular role with Belleville and had seven points with a +3 rating in 35 games. He’s logged ECHL time in each of the past two years.

Minor Transactions: 10/19/23

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With the ECHL starting up its season tonight, NHL and AHL teams have been shuffling players to that level in recent days.  Some of those recent moves are highlighted in our latest batch of minor transactions.

  • The Senators’ AHL affiliate announced the assignments of forward Philippe Daoust and defenceman Donovan Sebrango to ECHL Allen. Daoust was a sixth-round pick back in 2020 but was limited to just nine games last season due to injury.  He had seven points with Belleville but will get more time to work on his rehab at the ECHL level.  Meanwhile, Sebrango was acquired from Detroit as part of the Alex DeBrincat trade this summer and split last season between their AHL and ECHL affiliates.  Both players are entering the second year of their entry-level contracts.
  • Colorado’s AHL squad announced that they’ve sent goaltender Trent Miner, forward Ryan Sandelin, and defenseman Gianni Fairbrother to ECHL Utah. Miner posted a 3.04 GAA along with a .910 SV% in 37 games with the Grizzlies last season and is in the final season of his entry-level deal.  Sandelin wrapped up his college career last year with Minnesota State (Mankato), putting up 29 points in 38 games which helped him earn a minor league deal.  As for Fairbrother, the Avalanche acquired him as part of the Alex Newhook trade this summer but missed all of last season with a knee injury.  He’s also in the final season of his entry-level pact.
  • Former NHL blueliner Christian Jaros is on the move to the KHL as he has signed with Severstal Cherepovets, per a team release. The 27-year-old received a two-year deal.  Jaros has 94 career NHL games under his belts over parts of five seasons between Ottawa, San Jose, and New Jersey but opted to head overseas last season, seeing action with two separate KHL squads.

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