Top Prospects: The NHL System Rankings

#26: Ottawa Senators

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Number of Ranked Prospects: 30

Number of Forwards in the Top 50: 0

Number of Defensemen in the Top 50: 1

Average Rank of Top 10 Prospects in Pool: 93rd

Top Forward Prospect in The System: Xavier Bourgault (73rd)

Top Defenseman Prospect in The System: Carter Yakemchuk (12th)

System Score: 2

Ottawa has been a team searching for an identity for several seasons. They have been a team that is simultaneously trying to build through the draft while also attempting to be a relevant playoff challenger.  The Senators have had great success with their top-end draft picks over the past several years, drafting four-time (so far) All-Star Brady Tkachuk with the fourth overall pick in 2018 and Tim Stutzle (247 points in 285 NHL games) third overall, defenseman Jake Sanderson 5th overall (70 points in 156 NHL games) and center Ridley Greigh 28th overall in 2020. Ottawa has picked two other times in the first round since 2108, selecting defenseman Lassi Thomson 19th overall in 2019 and Tyler Boucher 10th overall in 2021. Niether of those two players have yet seen NHL success. Thomson saw a handful of NHL games in 2021-2022, but since then has played almost exclusively in the AHL. Boucher has bounced around quite a bit, from the US Team development program, to Boston University, to the OHL and last year played in the AHL. He has not found scoring success yet at any level, and he still has a long way to go before becoming a NHLer.

The Top of The Pool:

The Senators got another crack at a top-ten draft pick last summer, and used their 7th-overall pick on the big, smooth offensive defenseman Carter Yakemchuk, who steps in right to the top of the Ottawa prospect ranking. Yackemchuk plays a power-skating transition game in a 6'3, 190-pound frame, and adds to that a tremendous punch of offensive skill (he scored 30 goals and added 41 assists in 66 games for the Calgary Hitmen last year, while racking up 120 penalty minutes, as well). At this point in his development, Yakemchuk is a high-risk, big-reward attacking defender who can make both excellent long diagonal passes and poor choices to do so. However, as he becomes more seasoned, learns better positioning in his own end and combines all of his many tools, he can become a huge force in the NHL at both ends of the rink.

The best forward in the Senators system is not a homegrown prospect, but a player Ottawa brought in via trade with Edmonton over the summer. Xavier Bourgault was Edmonton's 22nd-overall pick in 2021, and has played the past couple of seasons down on the veteran lineup for Bakersfield in the AHL. A change of scenery and better opportunities for ice time should help Bourgault on his road to the NHL. He has good speed, plays a smart passing game, and should be able to achieve a middle-six role in the NHL in the near future.

Tyler Kleven (54th overall defenseman prospect) is another interesting prospect in the Ottawa system. Kleven--a 6'4, 200-pound blueliner--saw a few games of NHL action in both the 2022-2023 and the 2023-2024 seasons, but spent the bulk of last season in the AHL. Kleven has been a work in progress, a big player with good skill but someone needing to improve physical play and offensive awareness. There has been progress in those areas, and he is still just 22 years old, so he still has a decent chance of making an impact at the NHL level. 

Newly drafted defenseman Gabriel Eliasson brings size and snarl to the ice. He has shown an eagerness for physical, intense play and although he may be lacking in other areas, he certainly will intimidate opponents trying to gain his zone.

The rest of the Senators pool is a fairly shallow. Stephen Halliday has the skill and the size, but maybe not the footwork to be a top six NHLer. He did score 36 points in 38 games for Ohio State last year, and his game awareness and hand skills are high quality. 

Return to the Team System Rankings

Below is the full list of Ottawa's ranked prospects.

Top Forwards 

Top Defensemen