Finding the Methot for Thomas Chabot
1. Internally
Obviously, there’s an easy solution if someone suddenly works out in camp and proves to be solid next season. This bodes well for the Ottawa Senators hopes of remaining at the cap floor as well from a budget perspective. The easy solution is not always the best option however in this case, we know for sure who this isn’t (*clears throat, Nikita Zaitsev).
Possible Candidate #1 Artem Zub:
The Senators signed KHL, right shot Defenseman, Artyem Zub and then signed him two more times before officially signing the Russian phenom known as Zub-Nation, to a 2-way, one-year league minimum contract.
While the 6’2 200lbs defenseman posted career-best offensive numbers, 22 points, 13 of those goals, the lengthy D was acquired for his stellar defensive play. Pierre Dorion is quoted as saying “Artem is a smart, defensive defenseman who moves the puck well and who utilizes his strength and mobility to make plays.”
The question for Zub will be how well, the 24-year-old can transition his game to a much faster, more skilled level of competition in the NHL. Unfortunately, a realistic comparable for him, as pointed out by many already, is his countrymate and new teammate, Nikita Zaitsev. Luckily Zub will have an opportunity to prove that he’s not a Zaitsev clone although you can certainly argue that Zaitsev put up the far better numbers before making the transition to the NHL.
If Zub can learn the NHL game quickly, use his size and strength to his advantage defensively, and have enough poise to make positive decisions with the puck, he is a good candidate for Chabot’s partner. I’m sure he will be given a long look at what he can bring to the NHL regardless if he’s playing beside Chabot or down the lineup. While Zub presents an opportunity to be the solution for The Ottawa Senators search for a steady top-line duo I would say the likelihood is slim. It’s a low risk/high reward play that the Senators can afford to make right now.
2: 2020 NHL draft
This option is quite honestly a bit of a reach considering I already squashed the idea of waiting for The Sens current prospect candidates. While this draft is said to be loaded with top-end talent, the same can’t be said about defensemen. The top 10 in fact is basically all forwards (and 1 goalie maybe) aside from Jamie Drysdale. Drysdale would be a fantastic pick for most teams, I’m not a big fan of the pick for Ottawa (although I wouldn’t be upset).
I’m a firm believer that Ottawa is 2 elite forwards away from moving their rebuild into acceleration. Drysdale is also at least a year away from playing NHL games, so for the sake of this article I’m going to lead you in a different direction.
Possible Candidate: Braden Schneider
With the NYI pick, whenever that may be, the Ottawa Senators could target 6’2, 205lbs defenseman, Braden Schneider. It might shock you that I firmly believe that Schneider is one of very few 2020 draft prospects that could be NHL ready next season. Is this because the Canadian defenseman of the Brandon Wheat Kings is better than the likes Drysdale, Sanderson and co. Obviously not, he does however have a much more attainable floor and due to the NHL style that he already currently plays I think he can reach that floor rather quickly.
Schneider did achieve 42 points through 60 games played in the WHL this season, so he’s not a slouch offensively but teams drafting him will understand that his greatest asset will be his defensive game. Schneider won over many scouts when he won gold for Canada at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and followed that up in 2019 with “top 3 honours” at the 2019 World U18 tournament internationally.
He was very close to making the WJC tournament for a stacked team Canada that of course went on to win Gold this past holiday season. I think Schneider will compliment Chabot almost perfectly. His skating and mobility are considered his best assets, so he’ll have no issue keeping up to Chabot on the ice. He has a great motor, meaning he thinks the game very well, this separates players from 3rd pairing duties to top-pairing roles (He’s not Ceci basically). He also adds an old school element of tenacity to his game, he already plays with bite and physicality, he’s a well sized player as is. Over the extended off season he could add another 10-15Lbs and be even more intimidating.
Now the downfall with the Ottawa Senators opting for a “quick fix” in terms of a partner for Chabot next season via the draft is missing out on other players in the same 20-25 range with much higher ceilings. Sometimes with many, many (like 13 or something crazy) draft picks, The Sens can afford to be umm…risky, as the kids say. You might want to use this pick to package and move down or draft someone like Helge Grans, a Swedish RHD who’s less NHL ready but could be really, really good when he is. As I mentioned, Schneider has a high floor, but his ceiling is far from cathedral. He is unlikely to provide a ton of offence at the NHL level and would be a reach to even be considered on any teams 2nd PP unit.
3. Free Agency
Last year this was Ron Hainsey, expected to come in and provide the veteran presence off the ice while showing the kiddos how to conduct themselves as pros at the NHL level. While I would say mission accomplished in terms of character building and leadership, the on-ice product of a 3rd pairing, stay at home guy, well past his prime is relatively underwhelming. Now finding a steady D partner via free agency is not an easy task for Pierre Doiron.
Not many teams just forfeit their top-pairing defenseman to UFA and allow them to walk away. That’s why I believe if Ottawa uses this option, they will likely opt to find a “stop-gap” player that isn’t necessarily on most teams’ top pairing. I think that’s the straw they will have play to even attract a free agent to a rebuilding team. More ice time/larger role than they will likely get anywhere else. That brings me to my next potential candidate;
Possible Candidate: Chris Tanev
The Vancouver Canuck lifer will reach the end of his five-year contract at the end of this season. Now I don’t want Canucks fans hating on me, so I think it’s most likely that they find a way to resign the 30-year-old in the offseason unless he’s wanting a larger increase to his current $4.45 million contract.
That being said, I believe Tanev still has a few good seasons in him and is everything Chabot needs in a partner to take the next step in his development. With the uncertainty of the salary cap, Ottawa might find themselves in a favourable position this offseason of potentially acquiring a player they might otherwise struggle to entice.
Quite frankly the Senators could offer more salary than almost any other team in the league if they so choose. Tanev registered 20 points last year, tying a career-best number for him offensively but it’s his defensive ability and physicality that he’s best known for. A feature that Marc Methot was also best known for.
Next. Ottawa Senators: Time running out for Logan Brown. dark
He’s a player willing to be steady, stay at home, hardworking defenseman that allows his D partner to take risks offensively. Tanev provided great stability alongside Quinn Hughes this season, allowing the 20-year-old defenceman to put up offensive totals that most offensive defenceman will never achieve in a single season. Now credit to Quinn for being an absolute gifted talent but selfishly, I would love to see what a stable partner looks like on Thomas Chabot. If Ottawa is able to acquire the RHD I think it would be hard to find a better compliment partner for Chabot at least in the short term, next season.
Other options may very well exist but seem less likely, perhaps something surprising like a trade. Time will tell however I do believe this is something that should be heavily weighing on the minds of Pierre Dorion and company. Should they allow Chabot to develop with inconsistent, heavily faulty, defensive partners, he’s almost sure to hit a burnout and not achieve his maximum potential for when we need him most. “Unparalleled success” needs a maximized Thomas Chabot, case closed.