Left Defence
Thomas Chabot, Michael Del Zotto, Erik Brannstrom
The Senators top defenceman, and top player Thomas Chabot is the leader of the defensive core, consistently playing top minutes while producing elite-level offensive numbers.
just occurred to me that a Chabot - McAvoy pair would've been absolutely unstoppable. assuming that it occurs to bruins fans pretty frequently https://t.co/E80l3ajNj1
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 18, 2021
While he does have his defensive inefficiencies occasionally, that’s to be expected when you’re being played over 28 minutes per night. Chabot finished second among NHL skaters with 26:17 TOI/GP, while also producing solid offensive numbers with 6 goals and 25 assists in just 49 games. It appears that Chabot may have a new partner as the new season rolls around:
Interesting news here; Chabot starts with Zub and Zaitsev with Del Zotto on the 'shutdown' pair https://t.co/L1YCVAsfMd
— John Rodenburg (@TSNJR) September 11, 2021
The addition of Zub onto the top pairing could be huge for Chabot, the calmness and poise that the Russian defender brings on a nightly basis should only elevate the Senators star defenceman’s play.
With the two-year signing of Michael Del Zotto, it appears that he will man the second-pairing alongside Nikita Zaitsev on the “shutdown” pair, a move that seems questionable at the very least. Del Zotto has never been more than a bottom-pair defenceman for the majority of his NHL career, he’s produced underwhelming results at both ends of the ice, and the fact that the Senators are gifting him top minutes as opposed to Erik Brannstrom is concerning. Del Zotto played last season in Columbus, producing 13 points in 53 games, while producing underwhelming advanced metrics, whether promoting the veteran defenceman to the second-pairing works remains to be seen.
As much as signs point to Erik Brannstrom starting the season in Belleville as they don’t have to worry about losing the talented defenceman to waivers, however, he’s proven too much at the AHL level to warrant more time there, if the team is serious about his development they would start him in the NHL. The diminutive defenceman scored 13 points in 30 games last season, looking comfortable quarterbacking both power-play units.
As for Victor Mete, it’s likely a toss-up between him and Brannstrom, if the latter makes the team out of camp it likely signals that the former Montreal Canadien is off the team.