NHL Prospect Watch: Ottawa Senators
Ahead of the 2024-25 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight WHLers who have been signed to an NHL contract, were recently drafted, or are included in the NHL’s definition of a rookie.
Today, we feature the crew called to Canada’s capital with the Ottawa Senators.
Jake Chiasson
Fresh season, fresh jersey for newly-minted Senators prospect Jake Chiasson. The 21-year-old forward was acquired by the organization in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers in mid-July after closing the book on his first year of professional hockey. Chiasson began the season with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets, netting his first pro goal and first multi-point game in the same night with a one-goal, one-assist performance against the Toledo Walleye in November. He’d finish the campaign with nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 68 games and one AHL appearance with the Bakersfield Condors. He also participated in a ceremonial puck drop and mental health panel at the 2024 Memorial Cup to discuss mental health and his experience helping a stranger experiencing a crisis. Originally drafted by the Oilers in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Chiasson played four full seasons in the WHL, largely with the Brandon Wheat Kings before closing out junior with a playoff run with the Saskatoon Blades. The 6-foot-2, 183-pound forward tallied 40 goals and 71 assists for 111 points in 174 career WHL tilts.
🚨 CHIASSON 🚨
Regained the lead on the power play!@jakechiasson19 | 2-1 #LetsGoKomets pic.twitter.com/H7N365wkaL
— Fort Wayne Komets (@FWKomets) March 16, 2024
Zack Ostapchuk
Gritty forward Zack Ostapchuk got his first taste of NHL action- and made a key play in his debut- in March. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound winger put up two shots and a hit in 12:44 of ice time and managed to pick off a pass to Sidney Crosby in overtime to start the breakout that would lead to Drake Batherson’s game-winning goal. All told, he’d get seven games with the big club in his first year in the pro ranks. Ostapchuk spent the bulk of his time with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, where he racked up 17 goals and 11 assists for 28 points in 69 games, leading all Belleville rookies in points and finishing fourth in goals among all of his teammates. Notably, he also tied for the team lead in game-winning goals with five and snagged Senators Rookie of the Year honours. The 21-year-old was selected by Ottawa with the 39th overall pick in the second round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Ostapchuk played parts of five seasons with the Vancouver Giants- which he captained for two seasons- before closing out his WHL career with a Championship Series run with the Winnipeg ICE. He was most effective in playoffs, where he averaged more than a point per game in three postseason runs.
In his first season with the #BellevilleSens, Zack Ostapchuk became a household name quickly. Belleville's Rookie of the Year scored 17 goals with five of those being game winners. The 20-year-old would also make his NHL debut late in the season, joining Ottawa for seven games on… pic.twitter.com/5m6pP3pwx2
— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) May 23, 2024
Lassi Thomson
2019 first-round pick Lassi Thomson is returning to Europe to join the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks after a four-season sojourn in North America. The 6-foot, 190-pound blueliner just wrapped up his fourth outing with Belleville, notching six goals and 15 assists for 21 points in 67 games, sitting third in goals and tied for third in points among Senators defencemen. He picked up another pair of assists- which came in the same game- in five postseason contests. While he didn’t get called up to the NHL this season, he has 18 games and five assists under his belt with Ottawa. Now 23 years old, the Finn spent his draft season with the Kelowna Rockets, earning 17 goals and 24 assists for 41 points in 63 appearances and snagging WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team honours.
A Lassi Thomson laser, if you will. @BellevilleSens | #TORvsBEL pic.twitter.com/X61bymEbWh
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) October 28, 2023
Cole Reinhardt
Calgarian Cole Reinhardt enters 2024-25 with an important contract after signing a one-year, two-way extension with the Sens in June. The 24-year-old is coming off his fourth professional campaign with Senators President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Steve Staios praising his skating, defensive responsibility and role on the penalty kill. Reinhardt put up eight goals (including two game-winners) and 15 assists for 23 points in 56 regular-season outings, adding a goal in seven Calder Cup playoff games. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound forward was chosen 181st overall in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, playing his lone NHL games in April 2022. He has played the second-most games in Belleville Senators history (225) and sits fifth in points (99). Reinhardt spent four seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings- including one year as an alternate captain- totaling 75 goals and 66 assists for 141 points in 252 junior games.
Cole Reinhardt ends 2023 with the overtime winner for the @BellevilleSens 🥳 pic.twitter.com/FdnUTMceBm
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) December 31, 2023
Carter Yakemchuk
Calgary Hitmen defenceman Carter Yakemchuk became Ottawa’s highest draft since Tim Stutzle in 2020 when Ottawa called his name at seventh overall in Las Vegas, Nev. in June 2024. The 18-year-old WHL Central Division First-Team All-Star led all WHL defencemen with 30 goals and set a new career high in assists (41) and points (71). His 30 lamp-lighters also set a new franchise record for goals by a defenceman in a single season and he finished second among all Hitmen skaters in all three categories. Yakemchuk, a Calgary product, recently participated in Hockey Canada’s National Junior Team Summer Showcase and has previously won a bronze medal as part of Canada’s 2023 U18 squad. The 6-foot-3, 203-pound right-shot defenceman signed his entry-level contract on August 6. A former third-round pick in the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft, Yakemchuk had piled up 53 goals and 78 assists in 189 WHL regular season contests.
🎥CARTER YAKEMCHUK – HIGHLIGHT REEL🎥
Allow us to remind you. Carter is a defenceman!@WHLHitmen | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/5GVca0hCNI
— The WHL (@TheWHL) June 28, 2024
