Thomson, the Senators' 19th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, was one of 14 players assigned to Belleville Friday night.

Following Friday night's 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, the Ottawa Senators made their first notable cuts of the preseason.

The biggest name on the chopping block was Lassi Thomson, Ottawa's former first-rounder, chosen 19th overall at the 2019 NHL Draft. Thomson probably falls somewhere between the categories of "not quite ready" and "caught up in the numbers game."

Whatever the reason, the Senators' plan is to send him to Belleville to start another season. Thomson had a career-high 33 points in 56 AHL games last year, second on the team among defenceman. He also has a big fan in head coach David Bell, who's worked with him the past three AHL seasons.

But this year, for the first time, the 23-year-old Finnish defenceman will have to clear waivers first. Given his draft pedigree, there's a decent chance some NHL club takes a flyer on Thomson, who was battling (among others) Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker for the 6-7 roles on defence. Those two defencemen have NHL one-way deals while Thomson remains on a two-way.

After four training camps, given what's in front of him on Ottawa's depth chart, Thomson would probably welcome a change of scenery.

Forward Angus Crookshank, Belleville's top goal scorer last season, is also heading to the American Hockey League. But Crookshank is waiver-exempt. He's a pesky buzzsaw who'd probably look just fine on Ottawa's fourth line but he too may be a victim of the numbers game. 

Here's the complete list of the Friday night cuts.

Players assigned to Belleville:

G Leevi Merilainen, G Mark Sinclair, D Ryan MacKinnon, D Donovan Sebrango, D Djibril Toure, LW Angus Crookshank, C Philippe Daoust, RW Tarun Fizer, LW Graham McPhee, RW Brennen Saulnier. 

Players placed on waivers for the purposes of assignment to Belleville:

RW Josh Currie, D Dillon Heatherington, RW Garrett Pilon, D Lassi Thomson.

Heave Away, Me Jollies: After Fan Fest Saturday, the Senators will head east to face the Florida Panthers in Sydney, Nova Scotia Sunday afternoon. It will be something of a homecoming for Sokolov and Drake Batherson who both played major junior hockey with Cape Breton. The club then heads for Halifax to play Pittsburgh on Monday.

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