The Ottawa Senators have built one of the strongest prospect pipelines in the NHL over the last few seasons. Many of the Senators’ most exciting prospects currently play in the AHL with the Belleville Senators. Upon the Cancellation of the 2019/2020 AHL season, many of these prospects are poised to make the jump to the Ottawa Senators as soon as next season.
The Belleville Senators were playing fantastic hockey prior to the cancellation of the AHL season. The team sat first place in the North Division with a record of 38-20-4. Leading the way in scoring for the young Belleville Senators were forwards Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, and Alex Formenton. The oldest of the three forwards being Drake Batherson at 22 years of age. With forward spots likely to open up in Ottawa next season, look for these forwards to make a push to be full-time members of the Ottawa Senators next season.
After assessing how the prospects performed over the course of the season, how much prior NHL experience they have, and potential spaces in the Ottawa Senators’ lineup going forward, I have compiled a list of prospects I believe to have the best chance of graduating to the NHL next season. For this list, I have excluded Christian Wolanin as he was hurt for the majority of the season and I believe he would be considered a full-time NHL player already.