The Senators called up Dennis Gilbert on Saturday after Thomas Chabot was placed on IR.
When the Ottawa Senators re-acquired Dennis Gilbert from Philadelphia straight up for Max Guenette earlier this month, it satisfied several needs.
It ended the team's RFA contract stalemate with Guenette, who has since signed in Philly's organization. And by adding Gilbert, it also beefed up the left side of Ottawa's blue line. With Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, and Tyler Kleven, the Senators are in good shape, but the drop-off after those three is steep. So much so that they've been using a right-shot defenseman to fill in on the left side.
With Chabot's comeback from injury lasting less than one game, he's now been placed on injured reserve. The Sens' solution for that has mainly been right-shot defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo, who was expected to skate on the left side again on Sunday in Dallas, just as he did on Friday in St. Louis.
But the Sens have called up Gilbert from AHL Belleville on Saturday, suggesting one of two things:
- Head coach Travis Green wants to get back to having guys play on their natural side, so maybe Gilbert takes Matinpalo's spot in the bottom pairing.
- Or perhaps Kleven isn't right after blocking a shot with his hand on Friday. He left the game but quickly returned. As is sometimes the case, perhaps the injury felt worse a day later. So it's possible Gilbert is up to replace Kleven outright or just act as a seventh-man insurance policy.
Gilbert is coming off a knee injury suffered in a game between Lehigh Valley and Laval on October 29. He left that game after a hit by Xavier Simoneau, who was called for kneeing. When Gilbert was traded to Ottawa, he finally returned to action with Belleville on Nov. 22 and had three assists over the next three games before Saturday's recall.
In parts of six NHL seasons, Gilbert has appeared in 111 games, scoring three goals and 20 points. Gilbert was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks, 90th overall, in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and has also played for the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, and Buffalo Sabres.
The 29-year-old fits nicely with the club's general desire for size on the blue line, checking in at 6-foot-3, 216 pounds. And he doesn't mind the odd fight, which satisfies another need in Ottawa – an extra option to take some pressure off Brady Tkachuk. The last thing the Senators want is to see Tkachuk ramming his surgically repaired right fist into someone's face anytime soon.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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