The 2019/20 Ottawa Senators Prospect Pyramid
The Ottawa Senators have one of the deepest group of prospects in the entire NHL, being ranked 9th overall by Elite Prospects this summer.
It is difficult to grade each Ottawa Senators prospect on an individual level, with so many players fitting into the same ‘tiers’ as their peers.
With this in mind, we here at SenShot have decided to have a go at creating the Senators’ 2019/20 Prospect Pyramid – an idea originally created in 2016 by Sportsnet writer and Toronto Maple Leafs fans Steve Dangle.
Dangle created different tiers that prospects would fit into, based on their projected place within an NHL roster.
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With this, rather than having players listed in a specific order, something that fans would undoubtedly disagree on for a whole range of reasons, players that are deemed to be of a similar level have been placed together in their respective tiers.
For the purposes of this exercise, there are a few qualifiers as to what we are considering to be a prospect.
Firstly, players should be 23-years-old or younger. Once a player reaches the age of 24, they have typically either broken into an NHL roster or are now firmly cemented into their level, be that in the AHL, ECHL or in a league abroad.
Players also must have fewer than 50 NHL games under their belt by this point. Once you play 50 games in the NHL at a young age, it’s fairly clear where your position within the league is likely to be.
This does mean that players such as Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, Christian Wolanin and Maxime Lajoie have been excluded from the pyramid despite fitting into the age category.
So, without further ado, here is the official SenShot Ottawa Senators Prospect Pyramid ahead of the 2019/20 NHL season.
Tier 1: The Elite
This tier is the cream of the crop, the very best prospects in the system that are viewed as slam-dunk NHL stars in the near future.
This list, as with every team around the league, is the smallest as it is quite rare for teams to have more than one or two players that are seemingly guaranteed to be a big part of the team moving forward.
Many players are selected in the first round of their respective drafts, but that doesn’t guarantee a place in this tier.
For the Ottawa Senators, they have just two players that can be considered Tier 1 prospects; Erik Brannstrom and Drake Batherson.
Brannstrom was the key piece included by the Vegas Golden Knights in the trade that saw Mark Stone head down to the City of Lights.
The Swedish blueliner made his NHL debut with the Senators after heading to the Canadian capital but only made two appearances before the end of the 2018/19 season.
Originally selected 15th overall by the Golden Knights in the 2017 Draft, Brannstrom is viewed as a guaranteed Top Four player in the NHL once he makes the jump up full-time.
The left-handed shot is expected to become a key part of the Senators’ defensive corps as early as this season, securing his position within the team in the early stages of the rebuild.
Batherson, originally a fourth-round pick by the Senators in the same draft as Brannstrom, has made great leaps in his development over the past two seasons.
From registering just under a point-per-game in his draft year, Batherson turned things up to 11 and had 76 points (29 goals, 47 assists) in just 51 games, split between the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
He added a further 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 22 playoff games for the Armada, impressing the Senators organisation in the process.
His first season in the AHL saw Batherson register a stunning 62 points (22 goals, 40 assists) in just 59 regular-season games – leading to the American-born Canadian forward to make 20 appearances for the NHL Senators.
His impressively rapid development has seen him jump up to the top of the pack of Ottawa Senators forward prospects and he should secure a spot on the roster this summer.
The Full List
- Erik Brannstrom
- Drake Batherson
Tier 2: The Very Good
Tier 2 prospects are the players that are not expected to be top-tier players in the NHL but are expected to be solid NHL players that will have an important role on the team.
The Ottawa Senators are fortunate to have an abundance of players sitting in this tier, with two goaltenders that are expected to be the team’s tandem of the future in another year or two.
Filip Gustavsson, despite facing a challenging season with the Belleville Senators, is still the team’s top prospect between the pipes.
At 21-years-old, Gustavsson is expected to compete for more minutes in the AHL and continue to grow into the future starter the Senators organisation is hoping he can be, having acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Marcus Hogberg, the B-Sens starter last season, also looks to have a very promising future ahead of him and could be a solid NHL backup goaltender as early as next season.
The two goalie prospects are part of a very strong group of prospects that also includes former first-round picks Josh Norris, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Lassi Thomson.
Thomson is expected to return to Finland to gain experience playing against adults before moving over to the Canadian capital.
After a successful season with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, where the right-handed blueliner registered 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists), Thomson projects to be a solid Top-Four defenceman for the Senators.
Bernard-Docker has impressed since going to the University of North Dakota, a program that the Senators have grown a particular affiliation for in recent seasons.
Playing alongside Jonny Tychonick and Shane Pinto this upcoming season will give the Senators an opportunity to closely watch three of their promising prospects in one location, with Bernard-Docker still viewed as the best of the bunch.
If he continues to perform well in college, having registered 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 36 regular-season games, then the right-handed defenceman has a legitimate shot at making the Ottawa Senators roster as early as next season.
The Full List
- Filip Gustavsson
- Marcus Hogberg
- Josh Norris
- Lassi Thomson
- Jacob Bernard-Docker
Tier 3: The Good
Tier 3 prospects are those that look to have real upside to their game, but it is a bit more difficult to project where they will be on the team’s roster.
Sometimes these players can be high draft picks that were surprising at the time they were selected or could be guys acquired later that have impressed during the early stages of their developments.
The most notable name in this tier is Logan Brown, who was originally selected 11th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2016 Draft.
At the time he was selected, fans had mixed feelings about him and his development has taken a while longer than a lot of players selected so highly.
His first season in the AHL was fairly successful, with 14 goals and 42 total points in 56 regular-season games.
Brown will be hoping to improve on the six regular-season games he has already made for the Ottawa Senators, potentially pushing for a third-line role on the team.
Shane Pinto was a surprise selection with the 32nd overall pick in this year’s draft, with a number of other highly rated forwards still on the board.
Pinto has impressed since being selected by the Senators and will continue his development at the University of North Dakota.
He is viewed highly by the organisation, but it is difficult to project where he will eventually end up on the Senators roster.
Rudolfs Balcers has already featured for the Senators 36 times this past season and showed flashes of real talent.
He is likely to hold down a position on the team’s bottom-six, with hopes that he can progress further and push for a role higher in the line-up.
A number of promising players sit on this list, including goaltender Mads Søgaard, who was selected in the second round of this year’s draft.
The 6-foot-7, Danish goalie is a very promising prospect for the Ottawa Senators, but with so many other goaltender prospects ahead of him, there’s no telling when or if he will get to suit up for the NHL club.
The Full List
- Logan Brown
- Jonathan Gruden
- Shane Pinto
- Rudolfs Balcers
- Jonathan Davidsson
- Vitaly Abramov
- Alex Formenton
- Mads Søgaard
Tier 4: The Depth
Players sitting in Tier 4 are guys that could have a role on the NHL roster at some point in the near future, but it’s likely only going to be a bottom-six/pairing role at the most.
The Ottawa Senators have a number of players that could become solid depth options, with players in all positions on the ice.
Goaltender Joey Daccord impressed the Senators enough to sign him early out of Arizona State University but is likely to play in the ECHL during the upcoming season.
Parker Kelly, who originally went undrafted, had an impressive season in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders and is expected to continue his development in the AHL with Belleville this season.
If Kelly can make the jump up to the AHL well enough, he could find himself considered for a depth role in Ottawa in the near future.
Filip Chlapik is another player that is expected to become a solid depth player for the Senators, after having a couple of decent seasons in the minors.
Some players acquired in trades, as well as guys drafted by the Ottawa Senators, fill out the rest of the list – with the Senators truly having quality even further down the line-up.
The Full List
- Joey Daccord
- Olle Alsing
- Parker Kelly
- Filip Chaplik
- Michael Carcone
- Viktor Lodin
- Jonny Tychonick
Tier 5: The Rest
As with all buildings, Tier 5 of this prospect pyramid is the last layer and features the rest of the Ottawa Senators prospects that have not been included previously.
The rest of the team’s prospects are players that aren’t likely to make the NHL or are currently not showing that with their current level of development.
Overage draft picks, players acquired in trades and a whole range of factors could contribute to a player finding themselves on this list.
While it is highly unlikely these players will make the NHL roster, they are still considered prospects and could develop into something that benefits the Ottawa Senators in the long-term.
The Full List
- Mark Kastelic
- Todd Burgess
- Angus Crookshank
- J.C. Beaudin
- Jakov Novak
- Markus Nurmi
- Luke Loheit
- Maxence Guénette
- Miles Gendron
- Kevin Mandolese
- Anyone else
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What do you think Sens fans? How would your prospect pyramids look? What other qualifiers would you use to define what a prospect is? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!