Senators’ Thomas Chabot Returning To Lineup
Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot will dress tonight against the Panthers, just two weeks after having surgery to repair a fracture in his right forearm, he told reporters this morning (including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia). He practiced in a regular jersey today for the first time since the injury, so it’s obviously a rushed return, one that comes at least two weeks ahead of schedule.
Chabot last played on March 23 against the Rangers. He took a cross-check from New York captain J.T. Miller that knocked him out of the game late in the first period and, within a couple of days, was expected to end his regular season. At the time, the Senators were two points out of a playoff spot with a game in hand and had won three in a row. Without Chabot and multiple other defenders, they’ve gone 4-3-1 in their last eight.
That’s been enough to keep pace in the race as their competitors have largely cooled off as well. Entering play tonight, they sit two points clear of the ninth-place Blue Jackets for the second wild-card spot, and none of the teams chasing them have games in hand. They’ve also already clinched tiebreakers over the Jackets, Islanders, and Red Wings, so Ottawa is now in full control of its destiny.
There will be no bigger emotional boost over their final four games than a rather shocking return from Chabot, the team’s longest-tenured skater. The 29-year-old is now in his second decade in the organization, initially brought in with the 18th overall pick in 2015. He served as the team’s #1 for several seasons and, although he’s now dropped to the second pairing on the left side behind Jake Sanderson, is still playing at a high level despite a relative lack of power play time. Through 55 games this season, he’s tallied a 7-24–31 scoring line with a +6 rating while averaging 22:34 per night.
Ottawa’s defense, which boasted righties Jordan Spence and Artem Zub as its only two regulars for a brief stretch just last week, is now much closer to full health. After Sanderson returned from his upper-body injury last weekend, their top four is now essentially intact. They’re without Nick Jensen due to a meniscus tear for the rest of the regular season, but Spence had leapfrogged him on the depth chart anyway by the time Jensen went under the knife.
They’re also missing third-pairing lefty Tyler Kleven – a big depth loss, no doubt. However, their makeshift third pairing of Nikolas Matinpalo and Lassi Thomson has produced spectacular results in their small sample, controlling 70.4% of expected goals in 28 minutes together at 5-on-5. With three of Ottawa’s remaining four games against teams already eliminated from the playoffs, their postseason chances have climbed up to nearly 85%, per MoneyPuck.
Image courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images.
Senators’ Thomas Chabot Could Return Ahead Of Schedule
The Ottawa Senators’ injury situation turned from bad to worse when Thomas Chabot was sidelined with a broken arm six games before Jake Sanderson returned from his own month-long absence. Chabot underwent surgery to address the injury and was expected to be out six-to-eight weeks, which would have placed his return in the Eastern Conference Finals if the Senators were still playing. Roughly two weeks later, it appears Chabot’s recovery is going better than expected. He has already returned to practice and could return ahead of his original window, head coach Travis Green told TSN’s Bruce Garrioch.
Ottawa’s blue-line has faced a long string of injuries since the start of March. The Senators were forced to lean on their few healthy veterans – Tyler Kleven, Jordan Spence, and Artem Zub – in the few games where both Chabot and Sanderson were out. They didn’t leave that plan unscathed, with Kleven sustaining a potential season-ending injury of his own. Sanderson has averaged over 25 minutes of ice time in his two games since returning to the lineup, similar to the deployment Chabot carried before his injury.
Ottawa has fought a war of attrition in their attempt to seal an Eastern Conference Wild Card. Battling through injuries, the Senators have managed the sixth-most wins in the NHL (11) since March 1st. That comes largely thanks to the offense’s scoring ability, with Ottawa also ranked eighth in total goals in that span (61). Even then, the Senators have totaled a measly 10-11-1 record in games without Chabot this season. His absence leaves a major hole in Ottawa’s top-four. He has 31 points in 55 games, second-most on the Senators’ blue-line behind Sanderson’s 49 points. He has also kept up his strong play away from the puck while usually facing opponents’ top players.
Adding Chabot back into the lineup will reinstill the Senators’ one-two punch on defense, no matter when it happens. While news of a quick recovery is an exciting boost, it seems Ottawa may still have to finish the season down a top defender. The Senators currently hold onto the second Wild Card spot with 90 points and five games left. They sit one point ahead of the New York Islanders, with a game in hand, and two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Senators’ Thomas Chabot Undergoes Surgery, Out Six To Eight Weeks
Bad injury luck has struck at the worst time for the Ottawa Senators. Top defenseman Thomas Chabot will have to miss six-to-eight weeks after undergoing surgery to address a broken arm, per Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Citizen. Chabot suffered the injury on a cross-check from New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller in the first period of Monday’s game. A two-month timeline will likely keep Chabot out until at least the Eastern Conference final, if the Senators make it that far.
The Senators are also facing injuries to defensemen Lassi Thomson (day-to-day) and Dennis Gilbert (two to three weeks), per Garrioch. Thomson made his season debut in Monday’s game against New York but only played four minutes. Gilbert served a bottom-pair role through five games in mid-March but hasn’t played since Saturday’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Senators will have a slight silver lining. Defenseman Jake Sanderson has returned to skating at practice and will join the Senators on their upcoming two-game road trip to Florida, per Garrioch. Sanderson has been out of the lineup since March 7th, missing nine games since. He routinely plays upwards of 24 or 25 minutes a night when fully healthy, a role that could increase as Ottawa looks to make up for Chabot’s absence. Sanderson leads the Senators’ blue line in scoring with 11 goals and 48 points in 62 games. It has been a career-year for the 23-year-old, who won an Olympic Gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in addition to scoring at the highest pace of his NHL career.
But even with Sanderson progressing towards a return, the Senators will be losing major firepower with Chabot on the shelf. The alternate captain was a focal point of the lineup after Sanderson was injured, even playing 31 minutes of ice time in Ottawa’s regulation win over the New York Islanders on Saturday. Chabot has nine points in his last 12 games, dating back to the last day of February. His hot streak has brought him to 31 points in 55 games this season, a scoring pace well on par with Chabot’s trend of 45-point seasons.
Chabot faced injury at multiple points this season, including missing 13 games between November and December. He has found his way back to consistent performance in the new year, netting 10 points in 16 January games, followed by nine points in 16 games since the start of February. It was a difficult season, capped off by a long-term injury at the worst time, but the year will support Chabot’s hold over a starring role on the Senators’ blue line leading into next season. He could also spur the bad luck with a quick recovery and a return to Ottawa’s playoff run, if the team can stay alive until he’s back.
Ottawa rotated its defense pairings with both of its star blue-liners out of Tuesday’s game against Detroit. Artem Zub and Jordan Spence filled the main play-driving roles, each receiving roughly 11 minutes of even-strength ice time in the process. The openings also made room for top defense prospect Carter Yakemchuk to make his NHL debut. He scored two points, a goal and an assist, in the effort. Yakemchuk could become a focal point of the Senators’ blue line until Sanderson is back to full health. He leads all AHL rookie defensemen in per-game scoring this season with 10 goals and 36 points in 50 games. Yakemchuk is well-known for his all-out style, focused on throwing big hits and driving the puck 200 feet.
Senators’ Thomas Chabot, Lassi Thomson Out “For A While” With Injuries
Ottawa Senators defensemen Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson each left the team’s contest against the New York Rangers tonight with an injury, per an official announcement.
After the Senators’ victory over the Rangers in New York, head coach Travis Green told the media, including The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie, that both Chabot and Thomson will “be out for a while” as a result of their injuries. Green indicated the team would be recalling two defensemen from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, tomorrow.
The more significant name here is undoubtedly Chabot, who has been Ottawa’s No. 2 defenseman ever since the emergence of Jake Sanderson. TSN’s Claire Hanna reported that Chabot left the ice “in obvious pain” and was “clutching his right wrist” as he headed for the locker room at Madison Square Garden at the end of the first period.
Chabot was spotted after the game with a splint on his wrist, per TSN’s Steve Lloyd.
The main point of concern in Chabot’s case appears to be the fact that his injured wrist is the same wrist he had surgery on in 2024.
The timing of this news is very difficult for the Senators. The Senators ended their lengthy rebuild last season by making the playoffs for the first time since their famous run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2017. The expectation in the Ottawa market was that their postseason berth, which ended with a first-round defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was a sign of greater things to come. Ottawa has endured an uneven 2025-26 season, dealing with a litany of on and off-ice challenges.
Green, in his second year as head coach, has guided the team through those challenges and led them into a position where they could conceivably return to the playoffs. They have been on a bit of a run as of late, going 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, and are riding a three-game win streak. But they still sit two points behind the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and are one point behind the Detroit Red Wings as well.
Ottawa plays Detroit tomorrow, and has a match up against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a fellow Eastern Conference playoff hopeful, on Thursday. On Saturday, they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, and still have games against the Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, Carolina Hurricanes, and Islanders remaining, as well as a second game against Tampa Bay.
In short: their schedule is set to become extremely tough, full of contests the Senators are likely to classify as “must-win.” Because of today’s news, they’re set to play an indefinite number of their remaining games without Chabot, and Thomson.
Losing Chabot has a massive impact on the construction of the Senators’ defense. He plays 22:34 per night, including a notable role on both sides of special teams. He’s scored seven goals and 31 points in 55 games, which ranks second among the team’s blueliners and No. 8 in team scoring overall. With Sanderson sidelined since March 9, Chabot has assumed the role as the team’s No. 1 defenseman.
Sanderson has resumed skating, and is set to return in roughly a week. But his lingering absence means Ottawa will enter its aforementioned set of crucial games this week without their top two defensemen. How Green deployed his blueliners tonight in New York gives a hint as to how Ottawa’s defense might shape up with both Chabot and Sanderson sidelined.
Leading Senators blueliners in time on ice tonight was Jordan Spence, who played in 26:44. The fact that the Senators had seven power plays likely played a role here – Spence will be Ottawa’s top power play quarterback amidst these injuries, but is unlikely to play as much as others overall. No. 3 among team defensemen in ice time was Artem Zub, who skated 23:44. Zub has been the team’s No. 3 defenseman this season and a top penalty killer. He’ll likely receive an even greater workload while the team’s two defensive pillars are injured. Also set to receive a more substantial workload is Tyler Kleven, who played 24:30 tonight and has been Ottawa’s No. 5 defenseman this season, and a secondary penalty killer.
The Senators are also dealing with the week-to-week loss of veteran Nick Jensen to knee surgery, compounding their issues on the blueline. Green indicated the team would be recalling two defensemen from Belleville, and one of those two could be 2024 No. 7 overall pick Carter Yakemchuk. The 20-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut but has 10 goals and 36 points in 50 AHL games this season. Earlier this month, the Senators indicated they’d prefer to allow Yakemchuk to develop at his own pace at the AHL level, but the injuries that have piled up could force their hand.
Outside of Yakemchuk, the Senators do have some other options for a potential recall waiting in Belleville. 25-year-old Samuel Bolduc has played quite a bit since arriving in a trade from the Ontario Reign, and has four points in five games. He offers size (he stands 6’4″ 220 pounds) and has 52 games of NHL experience, all coming during his days with the New York Islanders. He could be an option.
2022 fifth-round pick Jorian Donovan is still waiting on the chance to make his NHL debut, but has developed into a top-four piece with legitimate penalty-killing utility in the AHL. He could get a shot in the NHL given the injuries Ottawa is dealing with, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team prioritize experience in their call-ups given just how important their upcoming games are.
While Chabot’s status as one of the team’s top defensemen means his injury is more notable for the Senators’ overall lineup construction, the implications are no less real for Thomson. Tonight was the 25-year-old’s first NHL game since 2022-23, but his night ended after just 4:25 time on ice. Thomson was lined up to be one of the real beneficiaries of the Senators’ injury situation, slated to get the chance to show off his talents in some high-stakes NHL contests.
For a player who spent last season in the SHL, and is a pending RFA, that was a massive opportunity. Now, as a result of Thomson’s injury, that opportunity may have slipped away.
Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Ottawa’s Contention Window Could Be Short
The Senators have struggled to start the year, despite high hopes and promises that this would be the year they finally made some noise. However, some three months into the season, the only noise out of Ottawa is the collective sighs as the team’s inconsistency drives its most loyal supporters up the wall.
The Sens have a relatively young team, and with youth comes growing pains. But this group has been together for quite a while now, and it’s fair to wonder if this is who they are: a talented group of individual players who, together, form a flawed team with a window to win that grows smaller by the day.
When the Senators began tearing apart their core in 2018, it was clear that dark days lay ahead, but in the background, there was always hope for a brighter future, and for good reason. Many of the teams that tore down their roster to the studs rebuilt their systems and competed for Stanley Cups.
Whenever fans discussed the bottom-out rebuild, they would bring up the Penguins, Blackhawks, Kings and Lightning, and the collective 10 Stanley Cups those four teams won over 12 years. However, tearing down the roster was never a guarantee of success.
For every Chicago or Pittsburgh, you had a Buffalo or Edmonton. Teams that had bottomed out, but never built anything worth talking about. And now, with the Senators nearing the halfway point of the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, it’s fair to start asking whether they are more Buffalo than Chicago.
Ottawa is still framed as a team on the rise. They are young, talented, and one would think poised to break through once the pieces fall into place.
But aren’t the pieces already in place? You would think so, given the players they’ve brought in over the past five years, such as Jakob Chychrun and Alex DeBrincat, two men who were brought in for a season or two and shuffled out quickly. Ottawa likely pounced too early when they brought in those players, sensing they were closer to winning than they actually were, and exposing some of the problematic elements of a rebuild that are often forgotten.
The Senators have a ton of talent in their core. There is no doubting that.
Just because a core is talented doesn’t mean there is synchronicity. Ottawa has some pieces nearing their prime, while others have long passed it, and some are just learning what it takes to be a full-time NHLer and are being asked to do too much. Talent isn’t really the issue in Ottawa; timing is.
In fairness to the Senators, they did most of what a rebuilding team is supposed to do. They hit on their top picks (Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle), had some big trade wins by shipping out veterans (Erik Karlsson), and signed their top stars to very reasonable contracts (Jake Sanderson, Stützle, Tkachuk). But once those players are signed, it becomes much more challenging to layer the roster with inexpensive depth, and that is generally done through drafting, which the Senators have struggled with outside the first round. This has begun to rear its head.
There has long been a mentality among Senators fans that the team would figure out who to surround their stars with later on, but the time to figure it out is now, and they don’t look like they have the solutions. The trouble with a competitive window in the case of the Senators is that when you make big bets and lose, the window to win doesn’t get delayed or kicked down the road; it shrinks. The Senators could be in the midst of finding that out.
The Senators’ stars have been out of the development stage for a few years now, and one has to wonder how long their star players will remain patient. They were supposed to be past the learning years and into the progression years, and while last year felt like a step in the right direction, this year feels like two steps back, with little help on the way in the form of prospects or significant additions.
Ottawa’s farm system ranks bottom-10 in the league (23rd on Elite Prospects, 25th on Daily Faceoff), and they are without a first-round pick this year. They have a healthy stash of draft picks outside of that, but don’t have a ton of cap room to make major splashes.
Speaking of the salary cap, Ottawa has $23MM available next summer with eight players to sign (per PuckPedia). Assuming defensive prospect Carter Yakemchuk makes the jump to the NHL, that leaves Ottawa with around $22MM and seven players to sign to NHL deals.
That’s not a bad number by any stretch, but realistically, they will be looking to sign a top-four right-handed defenseman, a top-six winger, a backup goaltender, and a few bottom-six forwards. It’s not a daunting task, but it doesn’t leave much wiggle room, and you have to wonder whether their roster will be much better next year.
And make no mistake, the years are about to matter a whole lot more to the players on the roster and the team. Drake Batherson has one year remaining on his deal after this one, as does defenseman Artem Zub, while the likes of Tkachuk and defenseman Thomas Chabot have two.
Batherson has been a massive bargain on his current deal, carrying a cap hit of just $4.975MM on a six-year deal and delivering 60-plus points per season. Batherson is also consistently in the lineup, having dressed for 82 games in each of the previous three seasons. His defensive play, on the other hand, is not something to write home about, but that can be said for many goal-scoring wingers in the NHL.
Batherson has given Ottawa a ton of value over the life of his current contract, and like it or not, he’s going to want to claw a lot of that back on his next deal, which figures to be a seven-year deal and will probably top teammate Shane Pinto’s $7.5MM deal. Does Ottawa want to pay Batherson $8MM or more annually? Hard to say, but they can’t get that deal wrong, and what kind of message would it send to trade him right before the Tkachuk negotiations start?
Speaking of Tkachuk, he is the heart of the team and one heck of a competitor. You have to believe that if Ottawa can’t show forward progress in the next 18 months, he won’t be in a hurry to sign a long-term deal with the Senators when he is eligible to do so in July 2027.
Tkachuk negotiated in a very tactical and aggressive way during the last round of contract talks, and you have to believe he won’t be an easy player to lock up long-term if real results aren’t shown. Tkachuk is being paid handsomely at the moment, carrying an AAV north of $8.2MM. Steve Warne of The Hockey News has reported previously that his father, Keith Tkachuk, doesn’t believe he will leave Ottawa, but losing does a lot, as does winning, and Ottawa’s results will have a lot of say in what Tkachuk does.
The Senators have no choice but to win often and soon. They can ill afford to let the years go by without success. Windows to win don’t usually slam shut; they close quietly when contracts age poorly, teams fail to develop players, and depth erodes. It happened to those aforementioned Stanley Cup champions, in Chicago’s case, much earlier than expected and in Pittsburgh’s case, much later. It will happen to Ottawa at some point, and the question is whether they will win before it does. Much of that will be determined over the next 18 months.
Photo by Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Atlantic Notes: Chabot, Tuch, Matheson
It has been a tough year on the injury front for Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot. He has dealt with a pair of upper-body injuries, the second of which came in his first game back from the first one. They’ll now hope that the second time is the charm as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relayed that the veteran was activated off injured reserve as expected to suit up in their game this afternoon against Chicago. The 28-year-old has been limited to just 18 games so far this season due to those injuries and has done well when he’s in the lineup, picking up 10 points while averaging nearly 22 minutes per game of ice time. Chabot has been one of Ottawa’s better two-way threats from the back end for quite some time and if he stays healthy this time around, he’ll give their blueline a big boost. With his activation, Ottawa’s active roster is now full at 23 players.
More from the Atlantic:
- While former GM Kevyn Adams held contract talks with pending UFA winger Alex Tuch, it appears they were using Tage Thompson’s deal ($7.14MM AAV) as a benchmark, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link). Considering the escalation that’s coming to the Upper Limit of the salary cap in future years, that number is certainly too low relative to what he could get on the open market. New Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen has said that working out an extension with the 29-year-old will be a top priority but clearly, there’s a big gap to bridge based on where talks left off. Tuch enters play today with 11 goals and 18 assists in 32 games.
- The Canadiens will get a boost to their back end tonight as they begin a home-and-home set with Pittsburgh. The team announced that Mike Matheson will return to the lineup after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury, taking the place of Jayden Struble who will be a healthy scratch. Matheson, who signed a five-year, $30MM extension late last month, has four goals and 12 assists in 32 games this season while averaging nearly 25 minutes per game of ice time.
Ottawa Senators Reassign Dennis Gilbert
The Ottawa Senators have made a roster move ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Ottawa shared that they’ve reassigned depth defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the AHL’s Belleville Senators.
Fortunately, the transaction is for a positive reason. Thomas Chabot, who returned to practice as a full participant on Wednesday, is expected to be activated from the injured reserve and be in the lineup tomorrow afternoon. Chabot has been nursing an upper-body injury for the last month.
Gilbert, 29, is in his second stint with the Senators organization. He was acquired by the team last offseason in the deadline deal that brought Dylan Cozens to Ottawa. He signed with the Philadelphia Flyers last summer as an unrestricted free agent and was later traded back to the Senators in November for Max Guenette.
Despite the pair of trades, Gilbert has only appeared in five games with Ottawa, registering one assist and a -1 rating. He earned far more time with the Buffalo Sabres last season, tallying five assists in 25 contests.
Still, that hasn’t meant more ice time in the AHL. Even though he only appeared in 29 games last season, Gilbert spent the entire year on an NHL roster. This year, he battled some injury concerns earlier on, so he’s only managed nine AHL contests between Belleville and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Assuming the Senators’ defensive core can remain healthy, Gilbert will have a consistent home for the next little while.
Senators Injury Updates: Chabot, Eller, Pinto
During today’s practice, the Ottawa Senators shared that defenseman Thomas Chabot had been a full participant. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean he’ll return tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Speaking with reporters after practice, head coach Travis Green shared that Chabot won’t be in the lineup for tomorrow night’s contest (via TSN’s Bruce Garrioch). Still, given that he took part in today’s practice in a regular jersey, Chabot may be back on Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Upon his return, Chabot will likely slot in next to Jordan Spence on the Senators’ second defensive pairing. Ottawa hasn’t gotten much production from Chabot’s replacement, Tyler Kleven, who has registered two assists in the last 11 games with a -7 rating while averaging 18:20 of ice time.
Before Chabot suffered an upper-body injury in late November, he had again been enjoying a quality season with the Senators. Despite missing the last 11 games, Chabot remains third on the team in defensive scoring with two goals and 10 points in 18 games, averaging 21:55 of action per game.
The injury outlook isn’t as positive regarding Lars Eller. Missing Ottawa’s last two games with a lower-body injury, Garrioch confirmed that Eller broke his left foot and will miss the next three weeks. Given the longer-term recovery timeline, it would be unsurprising if Eller going on the injured reserve is the corresponding roster move for Chabot’s eventual activation.
Eller, 36, is in his first year with Ottawa after signing a one-year deal last summer. In 28 games this season, Eller has managed a 60.5% success rate in the faceoff dot while beginning 65.1% of his shifts in the offensive zone.
Meanwhile, Shane Pinto is the other player besides Chabot currently on the Senators’ injured reserve. The high-scoring forward has been nursing a lower-body injury and was originally projected to return tomorrow night against the Penguins.
Garrioch shared that although he won’t return tomorrow, Pinto has resumed skating, meaning he should return to the lineup relatively soon. The freshly-extended center has scored 12 goals and 18 points in 27 games for Ottawa this year.
Atlantic Notes: Evans, Chabot, Mermis
The Montreal Canadiens will be without center Jake Evans for their contest tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadiens shared that Evans is away from the team for personal reasons and that he would rejoin the team this weekend in New York.
There were no additional announcements from the team or subsequent reports indicating why Evans is missing, so it would be unfair to speculate. Still, given that he’s rejoining the team in New York, Evans is expected to re-enter the lineup when the Canadiens take on the Rangers on Saturday.
It also explains, in part, the trio of recalls made earlier today by Montreal. The Canadiens already have several players on the team’s injured reserve, so there was no need for a corresponding roster move. Owen Beck, who was included in today’s recall, will likely slot into Montreal’s third line in place of Evans and appear in his third NHL contest of the season.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The Ottawa Senators will have to wait a little bit longer for the return of defenseman Thomas Chabot. According to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, Chabot won’t travel with the team for their upcoming road trip, indicating that he’s still a week out at best. Chabot, who has two goals and 10 points over 18 games this season, has been nursing an upper-body injury since November 22nd.
- Staying in Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t expecting depth defenseman Dakota Mermis to return anytime soon. Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun reported that Mermis, who was placed on injured reserve earlier today, is expected to miss a month with a lower-body injury. The nine-year veteran left Toronto’s game in the third period on Wednesday due to the injury.
Senators Recall Dennis Gilbert, Place Thomas Chabot On IR
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.