The Ottawa Senators have unveiled their 25-man roster for this weekend’s Prospects Challenge in Montreal. The Sens will hold their rookie camp on Thursday and Friday, then head for Quebec to play two games at the Bell Centre. They take on the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and the Winnipeg Jets freshmen on Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
The camp locale is a departure from last season when the Sens rookies travelled to Buffalo for the Sabres’ annual Prospects Challenge, with games against Boston, New Jersey and Columbus.
This year’s roster of Sens’ hopefuls is highlighted by defenseman Carter Yakemchuk, who had an impressive main training camp with Ottawa last season and nearly made the team. The 2024 seventh overall pick is the only player on the roster with realistic NHL aspirations at the moment.
Logan Hensler, the Senators’ first-round pick this year, will not participate in this camp as his school year has begun at the University of Wisconsin. Ottawa’s three goaltenders for the camp are Jackson Parsons (Embrun), Vladimir Nikitin, and Lucas Beckman.
Up front, notable names include center Stephen Halliday, Belleville’s leading scorer in the AHL last season; Tyler Boucher, a former Sens first-rounder who has spent the past five years battling injuries; and Blake Vanek, the son of former NHLer Thomas Vanek and a third-round pick this summer.
One of the first things that stands out about this camp roster is its size. There aren’t many NHL clubs with a rookie camp roster that includes three players standing 6’7”. And only four of the 25 players are under 6 feet tall.
Forwards:
Tyler Boucher, Xavier Bourgault, Jake Chiasson, Philippe Daoust, Lucas Ellinas, Stephen Halliday, Landen Hookey, Danny Katic, Alex Mercier, Oskar Pettersson, Jamieson Rees, Carter Savoie, Blake Vanek, Mason Zebeski
Defensemen:
Matthew Andonovski, Jorlan Donovan, Gabriel Eliasson, Tomas Hamara, Braiden Simmons-Fischer, Djibril Toure, Eerik Wallenius, Carter Yakemchuk
Goaltenders:
Lucas Beckman, Vladimir Nikitin, Jackson Parsons
Among Habs fans, all eyes in Montreal will, of course, be on highly-skilled winger Ivan Demidov, who was chosen two picks before Yakemchuk last year. Demidov played two games for the Habs last year, putting up a goal and an assist. He fared quite nicely in the KHL as a teenager last season with 49 points in 65 games.
The prospects Challenge will feature four games in total. In addition to Ottawa’s matchups, the Canadiens will host the Jets on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. On Sunday, the 14th, an Original Six matchup between Toronto and Montreal begins at 3:00 p.m.
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