Things go from bad to worse for the Ottawa Senators. The team has started with an abysmal 3-4-0 and is currently sitting in last place in the Atlantic Division ahead of tonight’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. On top of this, the Senators currently have Artem Zub, Erik Brannstrom and Thomas Chabot injured with Chabot being placed on LTIR.
NHL → LTIR
— CapFriendly Transactions (@CF_Transactions) October 28, 2023
Thomas Chabot (LD) | OTT#GoSensGohttps://t.co/iB2inSCeJl
Those three players are all defenseman and currently leaves the back end extremely thin. Zub’s injury is still unknown, but it’s known that he will not play for the Sens until at least the end of this current road trip as he did not travel with the team. Brannstrom’s latest status update is that he has a concussion. It is not known when he will be back with the team, but it won’t be for quite some time. He was hurt during the team’s game against the New York Islanders when he got hit by Cal Clutterbuck. I won’t link to the play because I don’t think that it’s something that should be shared, but the point remains the same.
In the same game, Thomas Chabot blocked a shot with his hand. It was later revealed via MRI that he had broken a bone in his hand. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks as he recovers.
The Ottawa Senators made two AHL Call-Ups
With these three injuries, There have been callups from the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Mantipalo.
Kleven was picked in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft and is currently regarded as one of the team’s top prospects. With a need on the left side emerging it’s no surprise he was the first choice to call-up.
Mantipalo is the Ottawa Senators’ most recent European free agent signing. The 25-year-old Finnish defenseman was signed after spending his entire pro career in Liiga so far. He’s best known for being a defensively-minded guy with a heavy shot. Sounds a lot like a certain Artem Zub. I’m not saying he’s going to earn a full-time NHL Roster Spot from this injury call-up, but he’s definitely motivated.
As of right now, it appears that these pairings will be the team’s first attempt at dealing with the injuries on the back end:
Jake Sanderson – Travis Hamonic
Jake Chychrun – Jacob Bernard-Docker
Tyler Kleven – Nikolas Mantipalo
These pairings are pretty much what I expected. Hamonic and Sanderson have the familiarity of having played together for the majority of last season. Chychrun will play with JBD, and the two latest call-ups will pair together as they’ve been paired up a bunch in Belleville so far. The Ottawa Senators will have to lean heavily on Sanderson and Chychrun throughout the next few weeks.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Jake_Larivire to find more of my hockey content. To read my thoughts on the Senators new Jersey Sponsor, click here.
Featured Image: André Ringuette/Getty Images
