The Ottawa Senators' AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, missed out on the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs by two points. Missing out by two points can be a gut punch to end the season.
Although Belleville just missed out on the playoffs, the team saw growth from some of its players. In particular, Stephen Halliday was remarkable with leading Belleville with 51 points.
The 2025-26 season for Belleville will begin on the road at PPL Center against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Oct. 11. However, there was one player who left in July that may be a big loss that the team will need to find a player to fill the shoes in.
Davies was huge piece to Belleville's defense last season
In July 2024, the Senators signed defenseman Jeremy Davies to a one-year, two-way contract. Although he never played in a regular season NHL game in Ottawa, Davies was a big part of Belleville's team last season. Now, Davies' shoes will need to be filled in strongly by somebody else.
This past July, Davies signed a two-year contract with the Vegas Golden Knights. In a twist, Davies joined forces with former Senators prospect Cole Reinhardt in Vegas. Now, Belleville looks to fill Davies' shoes, which are big to fill.
In his one and only season in Belleville, Davies thrived while being fully healthy and playing in all 72 of Belleville's games. Davies recorded two new career highs with 48 points and 37 assists.
Davies' 37 assists were tied for the most on Belleville's roster with forward Garrett Pilon. Along with being tied with the most assists on the team, Davies' 48 points was tied for second on the team also with Pilon. Davies was also solid with making his presence known with his +9 rating being the third highest on Belleville's roster.
For a defenseman, the numbers Davies put up on the team were solid. Now, Belleville will need to find a defensemen who can produce offense well like Davies did.
The second-highest leading scoring defenseman on Belleville last season was Maxence Guenette. Although Guenette had a solid March, he finished with 23 points, which was 25 less points than Davies. Donovan Sebrango was the only other defenseman who recorded 20 points or more.
At 28 years old, a fresh start is ahead for Davies in Vegas. However, Belleville will be eager to search for a defenseman who can make up the offense that Davies provided last season.