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Thomas Chabot

Senators Recall Dennis Gilbert, Place Thomas Chabot On IR

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The Senators have made a pair of roster moves heading into their next game in Dallas on Sunday as the team announced that they’ve recalled Dennis Gilbert from AHL Belleville.  While not noted as part of the announcement, Ottawa has shifted defenseman Thomas Chabot to IR to make room for Gilbert on the active roster.

Gilbert will officially begin his second stint with the Senators with this promotion.  Acquired at the trade deadline last season from Buffalo, the 29-year-old played a sparing role down the stretch, suiting up just four times, where he had an assist and 11 hits in 13:02 per game of playing time.  Over the season between the two teams, Gilbert had six assists in 29 outings but logged just 10:29 per contest.

The Flyers signed Gilbert to a one-year, $875K deal over the summer but he wound up on waivers in training camp, passing through unclaimed resulting in a demotion to AHL Lehigh Valley.  He got into six games with the Phantoms where he had one assist before suffering an injury that kept him out for the better part of a month.

During that time, the Sens swung a move to bring him back into the fold, dealing the rights to unsigned RFA defenseman Max Guenette to get him.  Gilbert got into three games with Belleville following the swap and was more productive, collecting three helpers.

Chabot’s stint on Ottawa’s active roster didn’t last very long.  Activated off injured reserve last weekend, he played just once and has been listed as out with an upper-body injury since then.  If they backdate the placement to his last game played (November 22nd), he’ll technically be eligible to be activated at any time.  The 28-year-old has two goals and eight assists in 18 games so far this season.

Senators Activate Thomas Chabot, Assign Lassi Thomson To AHL

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The Senators have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against San Jose.  First, the team announced that defenseman Lassi Thomson has been sent back to AHL Belleville.  That opened up a roster spot which will be filled by blueliner Thomas Chabot who has been activated off injured reserve, per the NHL’s Media site.

Chabot has missed a week and a half due to an upper-body injury sustained against Dallas.  Before the injury, the 28-year-old was his usual two-way self on the back end, picking up two goals and eight assists in 17 games while blocking 35 shots and averaging a little under 22 minutes per game of playing time, second only to fellow blueliner Jake Sanderson.

Chabot will likely play on the second pairing in his return and it would make sense for Nick Jensen to move back into the other spot on that duo, a pairing that has played a lot together in the early going.  Whose spot Chabot takes in the lineup isn’t as certain though as Nikolas Matinpalo left Thursday’s game due to an injury.  If he can’t play, then Chabot will take his place but if Matinpalo is available, it could be him or Jordan Spence being scratched.

As for Thomson, the 25-year-old was brought up earlier this week as injury insurance for the first leg of Ottawa’s road trip but didn’t see any game action.  He last played in the NHL in the 2022-23 campaign and has five assists in 18 career NHL appearances.  In 15 games with Belleville, he has three goals and an assist.

Senators Recall Stephen Halliday, Lassi Thomson

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Before they embark on a seven-game road trip that will take them into December, the Ottawa Senators have recalled some depth to their active roster. According to a team announcement, the Senators have recalled forward Stephen Halliday and defenseman Lassi Thomson from the AHL’s Belleville Senators.

Unfortunately, the recall was preceded by some negativity. According to multiple reports, Ottawa has placed defenseman Thomas Chabot and forward Olle Lycksell on their injured reserve. Chabot’s upper-body injury is expected to keep him out of the lineup for the next couple of weeks. However, the Senators didn’t entirely rule out that he could return by the end of the upcoming road trip.

Halliday, 23, has the opportunity to make his NHL debut throughout the duration of the recall. The Ohio State University alumnus was drafted with the 104th overall pick by the Senators in the 2022 NHL Draft and transitioned to professional hockey toward the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

Since then, he’s been one of the more productive forwards for the AHL Senators. Starting with a 10-game debut to conclude the 2023-24 campaign, Halliday has scored 20 goals and 72 points in 96 games with Belleville and was leading the team in scoring before the recall. Halliday was also impressive in his one postseason run, scoring two goals and nine points in seven games.

Still, there is some reason for concern due to Halliday’s performance on the defensive side of the puck. Despite leading the team in scoring last season, Halliday finished with a dreadful -20 rating, nine points lower than the next worst. Granted, the AHL Senators didn’t qualify for the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs, but the team as a whole only finished with a -17 goal differential.

Meanwhile, Thomson has had a far different trajectory with the Senators organization as a prospect. Drafted with the 19th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, there’s no question that Thomson has fallen well short of expectations.

He began his professional career in North America at the end of the 2020-21 season, and primarily played with Belleville. Until the 2023-24 campaign, Thomson had scored 26 goals and 93 points in 202 AHL games with the Senators with a -28 rating. The disappointing performance led to Thomson leaving North America altogether last season, signing with the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks to a two-year deal.

It was a relatively promising season in the SHL, with Thomson scoring 17 goals and 29 points in 50 games, and adding three more goals in eight postseason contests. As things would turn out, the Redhawks released Thomson after one season, allowing him to re-sign with the Senators this past offseason.

Senators Notes: Chabot, Formenton, Guenette

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After sustaining an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s game against Dallas, it appears that Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot will miss at least one more contest.  Sportsnet’s Alex Adams relays (Twitter link) that it’s unlikely that the veteran will suit up on Thursday against Boston; head coach Travis Green indicated that Chabot is still being evaluated and the severity of the injury is not yet known.  While his playing time is down a bit this season, the 28-year-old has still played a big role on Ottawa’s back end in the early going, picking up 10 points in 17 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night of action.  Assuming that Chabot is ultimately scratched, Nicolas Matinpalo will likely take his place in the lineup.

More from Ottawa:

  • The Senators have received inquiries about RFA winger Alex Formenton but interest has been limited thus far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 26-year-old last played in the NHL in 2021-22 and is currently in his third season with Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland where he has three goals and two assists in 13 games.  Formenton will be eligible to return to the NHL as of December 1st following the expiration of his suspension which is also the same day that he will have to be signed to be eligible to play this season as he’s an RFA unlike the other players involved in the sexual assault trial that concluded back in July.  It’s possible that the Sens could renounce his rights before then to make him eligible to sign later in the season but they would require special permission from the league to do so.
  • Also from Garrioch’s piece, GM Steve Staios is hoping that there will be a resolution soon when it comes to RFA defenseman Max Guenette. The 24-year-old declined Ottawa’s efforts to re-sign him this summer, instead asking for a trade after Lassi Thomson was brought back.  However, no trade has materialized yet, meaning the December 1st deadline also applies to Guenette.  Garrioch suggests that the Senators are hoping for a draft pick in return but teams are also asking for Ottawa to take a contract back.  Even though the Sens have seven open contract slots per PuckPedia, that doesn’t appear to be something they’re willing to do at the moment.

Evening Notes: Devils, Chabot, Olympics

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Amanda Stein, Devils team reporter, shared updates ahead of the team’s five game road trip. Dougie Hamilton and Connor Brown did not travel. Hamilton was noted over the weekend as out for around a week due to an undisclosed injury, after leaving mid-game against Montreal on November 6th. Brown has yet to appear in November, apparently hampered by an upper-body injury, and has missed the last five games. 

Unfortunately such injuries have become common for Hamilton, 32, at this point in his career. Currently in year five of his seven year deal signed with New Jersey, his unscathed 82-game campaign in 2022-23 was far and away his best as a pro with 74 points, but since then he has not managed to play in more than 64 games in a season. 

Brown, signed last summer to a four-year deal, was off to a start worthy of the eyebrow raising contract, with five goals in 11 games. In his absence, Dawson Mercer has stepped up and provided great secondary scoring, currently just shy of a point-per-game pace, and eight goals in 16 games. 

New Jersey remains third in the league, and the five game road trip will be a test, as they’ve handled business at home, 7-0-1. As noted by Stein, the club will split the trip into two legs, so perhaps Brown or Hamilton could rejoin the team by the end. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • The Ottawa Senators shared mid-game that defenseman Thomas Chabot will not return tonight versus the Stars, due to an upper-body injury. The skilled defender was seen attempting to return for the second period, but quickly going back down the tunnel before puck drop. Further details have not been provided, but considering that Chabot nearly returned, hopefully the ailment is not serious. The 28-year-old has not missed a game so far this season. 
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared earlier today an interesting article: NHL representatives are headed to Milan next week to check progress on the 2026 Olympic Games arena in person, as the main hockey arena is behind schedule. Such a situation is not unheard of in the Olympic Games, considering the scale of such projects, but we may find out if there is real concern shortly, with February rapidly approaching. As mentioned by Friedman, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been reassured continuously, however, for representatives of the league to make the trip upon the completion of the Stockholm Series, it is a situation worth monitoring. 

Senators Notes: Tkachuk, Giroux, Jensen, Pinto, Worlds

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While the Senators are disappointed by a first-round loss in the Battle of Ontario, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in the future after ending a seven-year playoff drought. One is the continued top-end play of captain Brady Tkachuk, who was still dealing with the hip injury he sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off during the postseason, he told Claire Hanna of TSN.

“The hip happened that Sweden game, took some time coming back to try to get it as good as possible,” Tkachuk said. “Now it’s just, take the time to get that all healed up… it could heal up in the next couple of weeks.”

Entering a pivotal 2025-26 campaign for the Sens as they look to establish themselves in the upper echelon of the Atlantic Division, it’s good news that their leading goal-scorer doesn’t expect any lingering effects and should head into training camp at full health. Signed through 2027-28 at an $8.2MM cap hit, he still led the Sens in playoff scoring with a 4-3–7 line and a plus-two rating through six games. While his 0.76 points per game in the regular season were his lowest in four years, he still topped Ottawa’s roster with 29 goals and would have registered his fourth straight 30-goal campaign if not for missing 10 games.

Here’s more on the Senators:

  • Veteran pending unrestricted free agent winger Claude Giroux wants to continue his career in his hometown of Ottawa. He hasn’t talked to Sens general manager Steve Staios about a contract extension yet, but still feels that he can be an impact player, he told Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. He’s been extremely durable since signing a three-year, $19.5MM contract with Ottawa in 2022, only missing one game. His point totals have steadily tailed off, though, and the 37-year-old scored 50 points in 81 games in 2024-25 for the second-lowest per-game output of his career over a full season. AFP Analytics projects a two-year extension for Giroux just north of his current cap hit, but it stands to reason he’ll be happy to re-up for the same number or slightly less. He only made $5.5MM in salary this year, so a marginal decrease wouldn’t even be a pay cut compared to the final season of his expiring contract.
  • Defenseman Nick Jensen may need offseason surgery for the undisclosed injury that plagued him down the stretch, he told Garrioch. Ottawa sat Jensen for two of its last four regular-season games, and he missed a couple of multi-game stretches earlier in the campaign. The 34-year-old was still an effective shutdown presence in his first season with the Sens, posting 21 points and a +18 rating in 71 regular-season games. He averaged nearly 21 minutes per game in the playoffs and controlled 57.6% of shot attempts when he was on the ice at 5-on-5 despite not recording a point.
  • Young center Shane Pinto is entering the back half of his two-year, $7.5MM contract and is interested in discussing a long-term extension after he becomes eligible to sign one on July 1, he told TSN 1200 Ottawa. After sitting out half of the 2023-24 campaign due to a suspension for violating the league’s sports wagering policy, he posted a career-best 21 goals and 37 points in 70 games in 2024-25 while shouldering top-six minutes.
  • Defensemen Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot declined invites from USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, respectively, to join their national teams for the 2025 World Championship in Denmark and Sweden, with the former citing rest as his reasoning (per Hanna and TSN 1200). Germany hasn’t yet approached star center Tim Stützle, he said, but will say yes once they reach out in the coming days (according to Garrioch). Dylan Cozens also said he’d welcome being added to Canada’s roster if asked, per TSN 1200.

Ottawa Senators Injury Updates

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The Ottawa Senators are looking to pick up their third win of the young regular season tomorrow night but will have to do so without an important defenseman. TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reported defenseman Artem Zub will miss at least a week with a concussion while goaltender Linus Ullmark and defenseman Thomas Chabot appear ready to go.

The injury to Zub will strain the Senators’ defense for a short time, with the team already being thin on the right side of the blue line. According to line rushes today, veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic will move into the first pairing next to Jake Sanderson, with Jacob Bernard-Docker making his season debut on the bottom pairing.

Ottawa will find it difficult to match up against a speedy New Jersey Devils offense tomorrow night but it appears they are taking a more balanced approach to their defense while Zub recovers. Hamonic is no longer the quality shutdown defenseman he was with the New York Islanders organization in the early-to-mid 2010s, but he has started the 2024-25 season well, averaging 15:02 through the first three games.

Zub’s injury also gives some context to Garrioch’s report a few days ago that the Senators were already perusing the trade market to add a depth defenseman. The group looks markedly weaker even after sustaining one injury and Ottawa likely doesn’t want this to become a theme throughout the season with their eyes on the playoffs.

The back half of Garrioch’s injury report from today is positive as Ullmark returned to practice while recovering from a strain. TSN’s Claire Hanna shared a note from head coach Travis Green saying, “Linus Ullmark skated today, looked good, progressing well”. He did not confirm whether Ullmark would be the starter for tomorrow night but it appears they are headed in that direction. The team felt his absence in their most recent game against the Los Angeles Kings with Mads Sogaard and Anton Forsberg allowing seven goals on 26 shots in an overtime win.

Chabot left practice early today after colliding with Bernard-Docker during a drill in the neutral zone. He did not return to practice but multiple sources indicate he is doing fine and there is no concern for his availability in tomorrow night’s game against the Devils.

Atlantic Notes: McCabe, Senators, Laine

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There may be one more contract to sign for the Toronto Maple Leafs before they take the ice for the regular season. Nick Kypreos, co-host of the show, Real Kyper and Bourne, promoted yesterday that Toronto and defenseman Jake McCabe may have an extension finalized by the end of the week.

The Sportsnet co-host said, “The one thing I did hear is potentially a Jake McCabe extension coming, maybe before the season starts. I heard talks were real good. Now, still maybe debatable on how much term and maybe that still might fluctuate the AAV. But I’m thinking right now that he’d have no problem right now next season making $30 million over six years“.

A contract of this magnitude would only mark a slight pay increase for McCabe who is entering the last year of a four-year, $16MM contract originally signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. The term may be the deciding factor as a six-year deal would take McCabe into his age-37 season which could prove too lengthy for the Maple Leafs. It’s tough to argue with the results as McCabe has fit like a glove in Toronto’s system since being acquired from the Blackhawks in 2022-23.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • The Ottawa Senators received good news on the injury front with Alex Adams of Sportsnet reporting that Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and Thomas Chabot were all on the ice for practice this afternoon. All three players were seemingly injured in the team’s most recent preseason contest against the Montreal Canadiens but none of the ailments proved costly. The game between the Canadiens was one of the more chaotic preseason games in recent memory with a whopping 79 PIMs bestowed upon the clubs.
  • Montreal avoided a major blow to their forward core earlier this week with the announcement Patrik Laine would only be out two to three months with a knee sprain and would not require surgery which likely saved his season. Laine spoke briefly about his desire to forego surgery when he said, “It was one of those you could go either way. I don’t think there’s ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not…they did a good job of explaining the whole process and reassuring the chances are very high, that made me feel better about it” (X Link).

Snapshots: Pospisil, Moline, Chabot

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Flames winger Martin Pospisil said last week that he’d be representing Slovakia in this month’s Olympic qualifying tournament, but that may no longer be the case. Pospisil recently told Slovak outlet Dennik Sport that he’s reconsidering his decision after the country’s hockey governing body invited Slovak players from Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League to suit up for the tournament.

“I was surprised by the news, we’ll see how it all develops,” Pospisil said. “It’s hard for me to comment on that, because I found out everything just a while ago. I have to process that information first… It is still an honor for me to wear the national jersey. Sometimes, however, one has to put sports aside, but it’s hard for me to talk about it now. I will decide in the next few days.”

His potential departure from the national squad would be a large blow, as he was one of the few NHL-contracted players who were willing to participate for their respective countries during what’s otherwise the final ramp-up period to training camps. Pospisil finished third on the Slovak team in scoring at the World Championship earlier this year with seven points in seven games, his first appearance for the senior national team. The Slovak roster will still have a decent amount of big-name talent at the tournament and is a favorite to land one of the three spots remaining in men’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics, namely Devils Simon Nemec and Tomas Tatar and Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary.

More from around the league today:

  • Flyers defense prospect Austin Moline announced his commitment to Colorado College today, per an announcement from his junior team, the USHL’s Madison Capitols. Moline, 18, was a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft out of Shattuck St. Mary’s, where he had 41 points (11 goals, 30 assists) in 71 games for the prep school. The Las Vegas native already has immense size at 6’5″ and 201 lbs, which will be one of the biggest factors in getting him to the NHL someday. He’ll make the jump to Madison this season before heading off to Colorado Springs for his freshman year in 2025-26.

  • Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot is reportedly healing well from off-season wrist surgery (as per Steve Warne of The Hockey News). Warne spoke with Senators forward Drake Batherson earlier this week who told Warne that Chabot has been skating nearly every day and looked great when he saw him. Chabot missed 31 games last season and saw his name become a constant in trade rumors, but with Jakob Chychrun’s departure, the Senators need a big season from the 27-year-old. Chabot has four years left on his eight-year $64MM deal and had nine goals and 21 assists in 51 games last season.

Senators Downplay Thomas Chabot Trade Rumors

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Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot had found his name in trade speculation over the past week, mostly in connection to a report that they were in deep talks with the Flyers about a trade that may involve first-round picks changing hands closer to the draft. Chabot was never firmly linked to the deal by reputable sources, though, and Ottawa general manager Steve Staios shut down the possibility in his media availability today (including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia and Claire Hanna of TSN).

Staios said Chabot “hasn’t been talked about once” as a trade candidate internally, at least since he took over from Pierre Dorion as GM in November. It doesn’t mean they aren’t looking to make a big change on defense, though. Former first-round pick Erik Brännström is a candidate to be non-tendered and hit the UFA market early, and Jakob Chychrun has found himself in some more credible trade rumors as of late with one season left on his deal. Staios didn’t have anything notable to say about the latter today.

The Sens have their longtime top blue liner under contract for four more seasons at an $8MM cap hit. Chabot signed a healthy eight-year, $64MM extension in 2019 after finishing 18th in Norris Trophy voting the year prior, but he hasn’t received any consideration for the award since. He has a 10-team no-trade list for the duration of his contract beginning July 1. Chabot was surpassed as their top defender in terms of average ice time by Jake Sanderson, who looks to be their star defenseman of the future after Chabot held their number-one title from that 2018-19 campaign onward.

Ottawa will certainly look to make major additions on the right side of their defense to support Chabot and Sanderson, one reason the left-shot Chychrun has become somewhat expendable. The Sens are a reported suitor for Chris Tanev should he hit the open market next week, among others. They already have a capable top-pairing shutdown partner for Sanderson in Artem Zub, who’s excelled since coming over as an undrafted free-agent signing from Russia in 2020.

As they attempt to turn things around after yet another non-playoff season, the team has already made one aggressive move to improve their team defense, which finished 26th out of 32 teams in 2023-24. Out is disappointing 2023 UFA signing Joonas Korpisalo between the pipes – he’s off to Boston, along with a first-round pick and depth forward Mark Kastelic, in exchange for reigning Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark.

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