Sens bolster farm system, acquiring three former NHL second-round picks at the AHL trade deadline.
Exactly one week after the NHL trade deadline, the AHL's version passed on Friday at 3 pm, and the Ottawa Senators came away with three new players who are all former second-round NHL Draft picks.
Two of them are defenseman, who will help their organizational blue line depth, which is currently being tested. Jake Sanderson is described as week-to-week with a shoulder injury and Nick Jensen has been shutdown for at least this weekend with a lower body injury, and the Sens "aren't sure yet," about Jensen's status beyond that. Jensen played on
That means Dennis Gilbert and Lassi Thomson have been called up to Ottawa. Gilbert will slide into Ottawa's bottom pairing on Saturday afternoon, while Nik Matinpalo will likely move over to his natural right side.
On Friday, the Senators acquired 23-year-old left-shot defenseman Ryan O’Rourke for future considerations. O' Rourke has split his time between the AHL and ECHL this season. Minnesota chose him in the the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft, five picks before the Sens took Tyler Kleven.
O’Rourke has spent most of the past five years in the AHL, mostly with Iowa, where he was teammates last season with Ottawa natives Graeme Clarke and Cameron Crotty, who both now play for Belleville.
Clarke was acquired from Washington last Friday for Belleville forward Wyatt Bongiovanni.
The other deal for defenseman went down on Thursday as Ottawa sent forward Jan Jeník to the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Samuel Bolduc.
Originally selected in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Bolduc has appeared in 52 NHL games, all with the Islanders, recording four goals and four assists. The 25-year-old, another left shot, has played 56 games this season with LA's AHL team, recording five goals and 21 points.
Jeník appeared in 41 games with the AHL’s Belleville Senators this season, putting up 17 points. He was acquired in the summer of 2024 for Egor Sokolov.
The Senators also acquired 22-year-old forward Riley Kidney in exchange for Belleville goaltender Hunter Shepard and forward Jake Chiasson.
Kidney was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The former Gatineau Olympique was a two-time 100-point scorer in the QMJHL. Kidney also represented Canada at the 2022 World Junior Championship, but he's still trying to find his way as a pro. He spent two seasons in AHL Laval before being sent to the ECHL earlier this season.
Meanwhile, Shepard’s departure helps clear a logjam in the Senators’ AHL depth chart in Belleville, where Mads Søgaard and Leevi Meriläinen are holding down the fort, both hoping to win jobs in Ottawa this fall.
So the Senators end up with three former second-rounders who were fairly recently well-regarded NHL prospects. The Sens certainly believe these players will help their farm system, and they're all young enough that their long-range NHL potential might still have a pulse.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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