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Jacob Bernard-Docker

Injury Notes: Forbort, McDavid, Kostin, Zub

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Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort missed Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury and has been announced as day-to-day. Forbort has appeared in four games so far this season, recording two points and a +3. Fourth-year pro, Ian Mitchell, slotted into the NHL lineup in Forbort’s absence, recording one assist and two penalties in 10 minutes of ice time. Mitchell slotted in for an injured Kevin Shattenkirk on Saturday – earning his first two games of the season over the weekend.

Other injury notes from around the league:

  • Connor McDavid has been announced as out for one-to-two weeks with an upper-body injury. This comes at terrible timing, with Edmonton playing in the 2023 Heritage Classic on October 29th. In the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman was pessimistic that McDavid would play in the matchup, given the uncertainty of outdoor playing conditions. Friedman added that McDavid not appearing in the overtime period of Saturday night’s game is a sign of how serious the injury is being taken. There are few players in the league who impact a lineup more than McDavid, and there’s no doubt the league hoped he would play in the upcoming outdoor game, so all eyes will turn toward how this injury progresses.
  • Detroit Red Wings forward Klim Kostin also missed Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day. He’s played in four games this season, failing to record a point and tallying seven penalty minutes. Jonatan Berggren slotted into Kostin’s lineup spot, only recording one shot on the stat line in 13-and-a-half minutes of ice time. Kostin is on a newly signed, two-year contract that carries an annual average value of $2.0MM.
  • Artem Zub is expected to be out for the Ottawa Senators’ next game. In response, Ottawa has recalled Jacob Bernard-Docker from the AHL. Zub has played in four games this season and recorded three points, a mark that ranks Zub in the top three of Senators’ defender scoring. Bernard-Docker has played a sole game for Ottawa this year; only his 33rd NHL game despite being around the league since 2020-21. Bernard-Docker is expected to slot into the NHL lineup again with Zub out, although the Senators are practicing with seven defenders.

Ottawa Senators Return Jacob Bernard-Docker To AHL

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Saturday: Following their game against Detroit, the Senators announced that Bernard-Docker has been returned to Belleville.  With Ottawa off until Tuesday now, the move will allow them to bank a little bit of extra cap space between now and then.

Friday: The Ottawa Senators have announced that defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker has been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. In a corresponding move, Zack MacEwen, who cleared waivers earlier today, was reassigned to Belleville.

Earlier today, we covered the fact that Senators blueliner Artem Zub’s status for the team’s Saturday game is currently in doubt. If Zub ends up missing Saturday’s contest, the Senators will need an extra defenseman on their roster to dress in his place. With this recall, Ottawa has positioned Bernard-Docker as that player.

Bernard-Docker, 23, is a 2018 first-round pick who cleared waivers near the start of the season. The owner of a $805k cap hit through next season, Bernard-Docker has so far skated in two games this season at the AHL level. Last season, he scored six points in 41 AHL games, and got into 19 contests with the NHL Senators.

Since Zub is currently slotted into the Senators’ second pairing on defense next to Jake Sanderson, it’s possible that Bernard-Docker will end up on that pairing due to this recall.

Should Bernard-Docker end up slotted directly into Zub’s role, this recall will serve as a major opportunity for Bernard-Docker to showcase his skills in front of an NHL audience, as Zub averages nearly 18:00 time on ice per game.

Waivers: 10/03/23

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Oct. 4: All players have cleared waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. This means a pair of rather highly-touted Senators, Bernard-Docker and Sokolov, will remain with the organization.

Oct. 3: Following a large list of players hitting the waiver wire this time yesterday, today’s list is quite a bit smaller, but there is some solid talent that could potentially be claimed by a different organization. Today’s full list of players hitting the waiver wire comes courtesy of TSN’s Chris Johnston:

Boston Bruins

D Alec Regula
D Dan Renouf
F Anthony Richard
D Reilly Walsh
D Parker Wotherspoon

Edmonton Oilers

F Seth Griffith

New Jersey Devils

G Erik Kallgren

Ottawa Senators

D Jacob Bernard-Docker
F Matthew Highmore
D Jacob Larsson
F Egor Sokolov

Philadelphia Flyers

F Tanner Laczynski
G Calvin Petersen

Ottawa Senators Re-Sign Jacob Bernard-Docker

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The Ottawa Senators have made a second defenseman signing today after extending Erik Brannstrom just minutes ago. They’ve locked in Jacob Bernard-Docker to a two-year, $1.61MM contract carrying an average annual value of $850K. Per the team, the 23-year-old will earn a $785K salary in 2023-24 and a $825K salary in 2024-25.

Bernard-Docker just wrapped up his three-year entry-level contract, which saw him make NHL appearances in every season of the deal. Now with 32 NHL games under his belt, the 2018 first-round has struggled to make an impact offensively at both the NHL and AHL levels but looks to be developing into a solid defensive player. He didn’t look entirely out of place in 19 NHL appearances this season, holding his own defensively in a limited role.

He does have just two points to his name in his NHL career, though, and he had just six points in 41 AHL contests with the Belleville Senators in 2022-23. While still providing some bottom-four upside at this point, you’d like to see a little more production from a first-round pick who had no issue getting on the scoresheet in college.

He could get more of a chance next season, as the contract is a one-way deal. He would also require waivers to be sent to the minors next season, which the Sens likely aren’t willing to expose him to.

Ottawa Senators Recall Max Guenette

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The average seventh-round pick doesn’t even earn a contract, let alone sniff the NHL. That’s why the performance this season from Max Guenette has been so impressive. The young defenseman has been rewarded for his play with a recall to the Ottawa Senators and a potential NHL debut in the next few days.

Guenette, 21, was the 187th overall pick in 2019, and less than two years into his professional career, is already up with the big club. The right-shot defenseman scored 38 points in 69 games in the AHL, leading all Belleville Senators defensemen.

Ottawa has reassigned Jacob Bernard-Docker to make room on the NHL roster, a move that suggests Guenette will make his debut at some point. When he does, it will mean the entire 2019 Senators draft class will have played at least once in the league.

Lassi Thomson, Shane Pinto, Mads Sogaard—the team’s first three picks that year—all look like significant building blocks. Viktor Lodin and Mark Kastelic, the next two, are organizational depth. The future for Guenette is a little more unclear after his strong performance this season. He’ll get a chance to show he’s more than just a seventh-rounder.

Ottawa Senators Recall Jacob Bernard-Docker

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, per a team announcement. The 2018 first-round pick last played in the NHL in January, and in total has played in 13 games for Ottawa this season.

Bernard-Docker’s last stretch of NHL action came between January 16th and 21st, when he played in four games and got between 21 and 14 and a half minutes per game.

He’s registered just one point in his 13 games this year, but it’s important to note with Bernard-Docker that offense isn’t the priority. He’s more of a stay-at-home defender who earns his keep by playing a positionally sound crease-clearing game.

He’s done that to this point in the AHL, playing as a top-pairing defenseman for Belleville. What he hasn’t been able to do, though, is find a way to stick in the NHL consistently.

He was afforded an extended developmental runway at the University of North Dakota and performed well there, but as the Senators have been in need of capable NHL defensemen Bernard-Docker has been passed over in favor of other options in the past.

Eligible for restricted free agency in the offseason, this recall is an important opportunity for Bernard-Docker to leave a lasting, positive impression on the Senators organization.

Bernard-Docker will be eligible for waivers next season, meaning the time when the Senators need to make a choice as to whether he’s in their NHL plans is rapidly approaching. However many NHL games this recall earns Bernard-Docker will be his chance to make that choice a lot easier.

Ottawa Senators Re-Assign Jacob Bernard-Docker

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An up-and-down season for Ottawa Senators defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker continued this morning, as the team announced he has been re-assigned to the AHL’s Belleville Senators.

A cursory look at Ottawa’s roster might make this move seem puzzling. Sending Bernard-Docker to the minors leaves Ottawa with no extra skaters on the active roster and just five defensemen. However, Ottawa is entering somewhat of a lengthy break between games. After suffering a 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets last night, the Senators don’t play again until Wednesday.

Returning Bernard-Docker (still waiver-exempt) to Belleville doesn’t give him more playing time, though, as Belleville’s schedule mirrors that of their parent club. For Ottawa, having an NHL salary off the books for a few days is a cost-saving measure.

In a less likely scenario, the move could indicate that one (or both) of Artem Zub and Nikita Zaitsev could be ready to go for Wednesday’s game against the Islanders. Both defensemen are currently on injured reserve, but neither has a specific timetable for a return.

Ottawa’s 26th overall selection in 2018, Bernard-Docker has one assist in 13 games with the big club this season. He’d spent the past week on Ottawa’s roster, recalled after Zub exited the lineup with a lower-body injury. In four games since the January 15 recall, Bernard-Docker was held off the scoresheet, had a -4 rating, and averaged 17:15 per game in a more limited role than his earlier call-ups.

Senators Notes: Norris, Zub, Bernard-Docker

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It’s been an important practice today for the Ottawa Senators, with numerous updates from head coach D.J. Smith relayed by the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. The most consequential of them surrounds the status of star center Josh Norris, who Smith says is closing in on a return to the lineup, which could come this week.

The updates surrounding Norris’ injury status have been growing consistently more positive since the original shoulder injury occurred in late October, with the original fear being that Norris could miss the entire season. It was later determined that Norris wouldn’t require surgery, and he eventually returned to Senators practice in a full-contact jersey in mid-December.

Signed to an eight-year extension before the season, Norris is coming off a 35-goal season. Although he had just two points in five games before sustaining the shoulder injury, team chemistry is much-improved after their offseason additions have had time to settle in.

  • On the flip side of things, an injury-plagued season for defensive stalwart Artem Zub may be continuing. He wasn’t present at practice today according to Garrioch, He left Ottawa’s 7-0 blowout loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche yesterday with a lower-body injury, and his availability is in doubt for their game tomorrow against the Blues. Zub’s missed exactly half of Ottawa’s season thus far, only playing in 21 out of 42 games.
  • In response to the Zub injury, the team recalled Jacob Bernard-Docker from the AHL’s Belleville Senators. The 22-year-old first-round pick has one assist in nine games with Ottawa this year and could slot in Zub’s top-pairing role alongside Thomas Chabot.

Senators Assign Jacob Bernard-Docker To AHL

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Jacob Bernard-Docker just returned to Ottawa’s lineup last week after being on injured reserve for more than a month.  However, his time with the Senators has come to an end for the time being as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been sent to AHL Belleville.

The 22-year-old has played in nine NHL games so far this season, including seeing action in Ottawa’s last three.  In those contests, he had an assist along with 14 blocked shots while averaging over 17 minutes per night which isn’t bad for a rookie.  However, he’ll have an opportunity to log a lot more minutes at the minor league level; he played in eight games with Belleville back in October, picking up an assist.

At the moment, the Senators have just six defensemen on their active roster and one of those is Erik Brannstrom who hasn’t played in nearly two weeks due to a leg injury.  Bernard-Docker’s assignment suggests that Brannstrom should be ready to return for Tuesday’s contest against Columbus.  Brannstrom has three assists in 32 games so far this season.

Jacob Bernard-Docker Out One Month, Thomas Chabot Day-To-Day

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Some injury updates are coming in today concerning the Ottawa Senators’ defense, courtesy of Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. While star defenseman Thomas Chabot is now day-to-day with a concussion, Jacob Bernard-Docker is out for at least one month with a high ankle sprain.

Chabot sustained the concussion in a November 12 game against the Philadelphia Flyers. After being checked into the boards by Travis Konecny, the team placed Chabot on injured reserve the following day. Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan reported at the time Chabot’s timeline was at least one week.

It’s unclear when Bernard-Docker suffered the ankle injury. He played the full game yesterday in a 5-1 loss to the red-hot New Jersey Devils, logging 16:46 of ice time and a -1 rating. The young defender has been solid in a bottom-four role, contributing an assist in six games between call-ups from the Belleville Senators.

At least for Ottawa, the Bernard-Docker injury comes after Artem Zub, their best defensive defenseman, was cleared to return to play. Zub’s presence is the highlighting factor for Ottawa’s right side on defense, and he’ll ease the depth issues created by Bernard-Docker’s absence.

With Chabot likely healthy by the time Bernard-Docker is ready to go again, expect Ottawa to assign the latter back to the minors.

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