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Senators Notes: DeBrincat, Holden, Smith, Watson, Hamonic

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With the Ottawa Senators’ post-season press conference occurring this morning, many players gave insights into their futures with the team. The most followed offseason storyline will undoubtedly be Alex DeBrincat, as the 25-year-old gifted sniper is a restricted free agent come July 1. The Michigan-born winger told reporters this morning he’d be “open” to a long-term extension but also noted he wants to take a few months to discuss his future with his agent and his family.

DeBrincat is due a $9MM qualifying offer this summer thanks to the backloaded structure of his previous contract, a three-year deal signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019. If Ottawa and DeBrincat reach a long-term extension, the number wouldn’t seem likely to be much higher (if any higher at all) than that. DeBrincat took a step back offensively during his first season with the Senators, recording 66 points in 82 games after hovering at a point-per-game pace during the previous two seasons.

More from the Senators news cycle this morning:

  • The team has informed defenseman Nick Holden he won’t be back next season, says Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Holden told reporters this morning he plans to test free agency after completing the 10th full season of his NHL career. The 35-year-old played 141 games with the Senators after Ottawa acquired him via trade in 2021, recording seven goals and 28 assists for 35 points while averaging 18:24 per game. With the emergence of rookie Jake Sanderson and the late-season addition of Jakob Chychrun, there was little opportunity remaining for Holden in Ottawa after his role decreased significantly this season.
  • Garrioch also says to expect Senators head coach D.J. Smith to join Team Canada’s coaching staff for the upcoming IIHF Men’s World Championship. This will be two years in a row for Smith on the national team’s coaching staff, also serving as an assistant at last year’s tournament. Before that, Smith’s only international coaching experience with Canada came as an assistant at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
  • Forward Austin Watson says he played games in March on a broken foot before the team shut him down for the season last week. The 31-year-old grinder amassed nine goals but just two assists in 75 games this season. Watson, an unrestricted free agent this summer, also told reporters “the door isn’t closed” on a reunion with the Senators, although the multi-year contract he desires may not be palatable to the team given his career trajectory.
  • Defender Travis Hamonic clarified that his season-ending injury sustained at the end of March was a knee issue, and he would have attempted a return if Ottawa made it to the playoffs. Hamonic, who is also a pending UFA, finished fourth in scoring among Senators defenders with 21 points in 75 games and recorded a -5 rating.

Jake Sanderson Not Playing For Team USA

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  • Spending last summer rehabbing from an injury, Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson is looking to get a proper summer of training under his belt. In doing so, Bruce Garrioch of TSN is reporting that Sanderson has declined to play for Team USA in the upcoming World Championship. In 76 games for the Senators during his rookie season, the young defenseman has scored four goals and 27 assists. If they weren’t quite ready for it this season, the Senators are fully prepared to make a run to the playoffs next year. After the addition of Jakob Chychrun at this year’s trade deadline, they will have a lethal blue line if Sanderson can continue progressing this summer.

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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.

Alex DeBrincat Will Receive Qualifying Offer

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  • The Ottawa Senators are going to do everything they can to keep Alex DeBrincat next season. According to Bruce Garrioch of TSN, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion has said he will extend a qualifying offer to DeBrincat if there is not a long-term deal already in place this offseason. The 25-year-old winger has scored 27 goals and 66 points in 80 games during his first season with the Senators. Though his cap hit is $6.4MM, he is making $9MM this season so a qualifying offer would be a one-year extension for the 2023-24 season matching this year’s salary of $9MM.

Senators Notes: Talbot, Watson, Hamonic, Pinto

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Extension discussions between the Senators and goaltender Cam Talbot were put on hold when Talbot’s camp pushed for a substantial raise, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  The 35-year-old has underachieved this season, posting a .900 SV% in 35 games and since discussions were stopped back in December, Talbot has dealt with groin and rib injuries which certainly don’t help his market value.  Talbot’s in the final year of a deal that carries a $3.5MM AAV and with the way this season has gone, he’ll be hard-pressed to land a sizable increase on the open market this summer though another deal in that range is certainly possible.

More from Ottawa:

  • Winger Austin Watson’s season has come to an end, Garrioch notes (Twitter link). He took a shot off the foot on Thursday against Florida and the team will hold him out for the final three games.  His campaign concludes with nine goals, two assists, 123 penalty minutes, and 165 hits in 75 games.  Watson will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer.
  • Garrioch also relayed (Twitter link) that blueliner Travis Hamonic (lower body) won’t be able to return this season. The team had hoped that the 32-year-old would be able to be back for a game or two in the final week but with the Sens out of playoff contention now, there’s no need to try to rush him back.  His season ends with 21 points and 143 blocks in 75 games and he, too, will be an unrestricted free agent in July.
  • Center Shane Pinto revealed to Garrioch (Twitter link) that he has been invited to play for Team USA at next month’s World Championship. The 22-year-old has had a good first full NHL campaign, chipping in with 20 goals and 13 assists while averaging a little under 16 minutes per night.  Notably, Pinto’s contract expires this summer and players that aren’t signed for the following season typically don’t suit up in the event; Pinto only indicated that he’s thinking about the offer at this time.

Senators Assign Two To AHL

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With Ottawa (and the rest of the league) off today, they have elected to send a pair of players down to the minors, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned center Ridly Greig and goaltender Leevi Merilainen to AHL Ottawa.

Greig has played in 20 games with the Sens this season including nine on this most recent recall.  He fared a bit better offensively in that second stint, picking up a goal and four assists in that stretch, giving him two goals and seven helpers on the season.  At the minor league level, the 20-year-old has been much more productive, tallying 13 goals and 14 assists in 35 games in his first full professional campaign.

Merilainen, meanwhile, has gotten into two games with the Senators this month.  He made 34 stops in an overtime loss to Carolina on Tuesday but his second start didn’t go as well as the 20-year-old was yanked early in the second period versus Florida.  Overall, he has a 4.23 GAA and a .878 SV% with the Sens after posting a 2.02 GAA and a .918 in 42 games with Karpat of the Finnish league.

Belleville is back in action on Saturday for a rematch against Cleveland as they battle for a play-in spot in the North Division so it’s unlikely that Greig and Merilainen will be recalled for Ottawa’s contest tomorrow versus Tampa Bay.

Ottawa Senators Recall Egor Sokolov

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It’s been an impressive season for Ottawa Senators prospect Egor Sokolov, and he’s about to get a nice reward. The young forward has been recalled to the NHL for the first time this season.

Sokolov, 22, has scored 55 points in 67 games for the Belleville Senators, setting a new career mark at the professional level. The 2020 second-round pick may not be the fleetest of the foot, but he has continued to perform well at the minor league level, scoring in bunches and operating as a key member of the Belleville attack.

After receiving eight games of NHL action last year, Sokolov is still looking for his first point with Ottawa. Whether he gets a chance down the stretch this year isn’t clear, though if not, his recall is somewhat surprising.

Belleville is still within striking distance of a playoff spot, sitting three points behind the Laval Rocket with five games to play. They’ll be playing the Cleveland Monsters in a must-win matchup tomorrow night, before a rematch on Saturday. Given Ottawa is in Carolina tonight and heads to Florida for a game on Thursday, it would seem unlikely that Sokolov is being removed from the Belleville group just to sit in the press box.

Travis Hamonic Hopes To Re-Sign With Senators

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Last season, it came as a bit of a surprise that the Senators acquired Travis Hamonic from Vancouver.  They wanted him to be a reliable veteran to work with a younger group of defensemen and it’s a role that has suited him well.  Earlier this year, it seemed like there was a chance that the veteran would be on the move but he wound up staying put with Ottawa.

While Hamonic is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, he’s hoping it doesn’t come to that point, telling Ian Mendes of The Athletic (subscription link) that he wants to re-sign with the Sens before getting to the open market.  To that end, he indicated that preliminary discussions on an extension have started but not to the point where talks could be considered as serious.

The 32-year-old is having one of his stronger seasons in recent years.  Offensively, he has his highest point total (21) since 2015-16 while defensively, he leads the team in blocks with 143 in 75 games although those numbers won’t be going up for now as he will miss the next few games at least due to a lower-body injury.  Hamonic also leads the Senators in shorthanded ice time, logging 3:16 per contest.  All in all, he has been a steady and stable defensive presence which is exactly what he was brought in for.

However, it’s fair to wonder if they’ll be able to afford Hamonic at a similar price to what he’s making this season.  A $3MM AAV for a fourth or fifth defender is fair market value but the Sens already have over $69MM in commitments for next season to just 16 players, per CapFriendly.  Alex DeBrincat is a high-profile restricted free agent who will eat up most of that cap room as he’s owed a $9MM qualifying offer if they can’t reach an agreement on a long-term pact before then.  Between that deal and filling out the rest of the roster, will there be room for Hamonic on a market-value contract?

Of the five blueliners on Ottawa’s current roster that are signed beyond this season, Artem Zub is the oldest at 27 so there is definitely room for someone like Hamonic to stay on the roster in his current role.  But if he’s going to get his wish to stay in Canada’s capital, he’s either heading for a sizable cut in pay or GM Pierre Dorion is going to have to find a way to trim some salary first to try to make that happen.

Leevi Merilainen Recalled By Senators

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  • Continuing with goaltending news, Bruce Garrioch of TSN reports that the Ottawa Senators have recalled Leevi Merilainen from their AHL affiliate Belleville Senators, as Mads Sogaard will be out of the lineup with an illness. Although the Senators have dealt with a goalie carousel this season, this will mark Merilainen’s first official call-up to the NHL, although it remains to be seen if he will play in any games. In his first and only start in Belleville, Merilainen recorded a shutout.

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Derick Brassard Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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The news isn’t great for Senators center Derick Brassard.  After being injured in Thursday’s victory over Philadelphia, head coach D.J. Smith told reporters including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link) that Brassard has undergone surgery to repair a fractured fibula.  In a separate tweet, Garrioch adds that the recovery timeline is at least six to eight weeks and that Brassard had a plate put in.

It’s certainly a tough end to the season for the 35-year-old.  Brassard had been a quality depth contributor for the Sens this year, chipping in with 13 goals in 62 games, his highest goal total since the 2019-20 campaign.  Perhaps more impressive is that he was able to do so while logging just 12:11 per contest, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2007-08.

Brassard had to settle for a training camp PTO last fall but was able to earn himself a one-year contract at the league minimum.  Having bounced around considerably in recent years – Ottawa is his eighth different team since 2018-19 – he’s someone whose ability to earn a contract for next season was already in question.  Unfortunately, an injury like this certainly doesn’t help in that regard.  Accordingly, it’s quite possible that Brassard will have to settle for a tryout once again if he looks to try to extend his 16-year NHL career any further.

Meanwhile, TSN’s Claire Hanna relays (Twitter link) that defensemen Travis Hamonic (lower body), Thomas Chabot (upper body), and Jakob Chychrun (hamstring) won’t accompany the Sens on their upcoming three-game road trip.  Of the three, Smith noted that he’s hopeful that Hamonic will be able to return by the end of the season so it appears Chabot and Chychrun have seen their 2022-23 campaigns come to an end.

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