Ottawa Senators

Senators Prospects News: Pinto, Thomson, Davidsson, Gustavsson & Sanderson

What’s the news from the Ottawa Senators prospects both those who are playing in Europe and those in the NCAA hockey?

by
Old Prof
December 15, 2020

Although the 31 NHL teams haven’t formally asked their young prospects who have found extra playing time in European leagues to start returning to North America because there’s actually no agreement in place, many of these young players are headed back to North America on the advice of their player agents.

In this post, I’ll help Ottawa Senators’ keep up with the movements of the team’s young prospects.

Item One: Shane Pinto Is Tearing Up the NCAA

Shane Pinto is the Senators second round (32^nd overall) draft choice from the 2019 NHL Draft; and, so far, he’s made the team look wise for choosing him. In just seven games with the University of North Dakota, Pinto has scored three goals and 10 points to start off his sophomore (second) season.

Pinto added two assists during Sunday’s 6-3 victory over Western Michigan. Thus far during the season, in his seven games, he’s had four games of more than one point; a game with one point; and only two games where he hasn’t scored.

Item Two: Lassi Thomson Is Headed to Ottawa After His Time in Finland Ends

Lassi Thomas is on his way to Canada getting ready for the Senators training camp. The 20-year-old right-shot defenseman from Finland has been on loan to Ilves of the Finnish Liiga, but that’s now ended. Thomas was the Senators’ first-round draft choice (19^th overall) during the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He played for Ilves last season and scored 13 points (with seven goals) in 39 games.

#Sens 2019 19th overall pick, Lassi Thomson, is on his way to Ottawa. https://t.co/ss2QJJcGb2
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) December 14, 2020

For some reason, Thomson’s play this season wasn’t up to past performances. Offensively he only scored two assists in 18 games before his loan ended. Regardless of what’s on the scoresheet, the organization’s goal was accomplished because he was able to stay home and also get in some extra playing time at a time when the NHL’s regular season was still up in the air. It’s likely Thomson’s development will take place in the minors this season with his future with the team coming a couple seasons down the road.

Item Three: Jonathan Davidsson Is Returning to Ottawa After His Loan to Sweden

The 23-year-old Jonathan Davidsson is on his way back to Canada after finishing his time on loan to Vasterviks IK in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan. During his time playing in Europe, Davidsson scored a goal and four points in 10 games.

He did play six games with the Senators last season and spent the remainder of the season in Belleville (18 games), where he scored two goals and added three assists in his first season playing in North America. (from “Players overseas are starting to make their way back to Ottawa to prepare for 2020-21 campaign, Bruce Garrioch, Ottawa Sun, 12/12/20).

Item Four: Goaltender Filip Gustavsson Is Returning to Ottawa After His Loan to Sweden

Goalie Filip Gustavsson has ended his loan to Sodertalje SK and headed back to Ottawa. The 22-year-old had a good record playing in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan, which is Sweden’s second-divison league. Gustavsson finished with a 11-7-0 record, a goals-against-average of 2.30, and a .919 save-percentage in 19 games.

Last season he played for the AHL’s Belleville Senators and recorded a 15-6-3 mark, a goals-against-average of 3.23, and a .889 save percentage. Right now, he’s number three on the Senators goalie depth chart.

Although the other players noted here were mostly Senators’ draft choices, Davidsson is an exception. He came to Ottawa in the trade that sent Matt Duchene to the Columbus two seasons ago now.

Item Five: Jake Sanderson Looking to Have a Strong World Juniors Championships

Team USA’s head coach Nate Leaman predicts that Senators’ prospect Jake Sanderson will have a key role on the team’s defense during the World Junior Championships (WJC). During the recent 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Sanderson was the first defenseman chosen by any NHL team (fifth overall). He’s nothing short of a terrific prospect.

Coach Leaman noted that he thought Sanderson is “going to have a big role in our group because he does everything well. You can’t look at Jake and say there’s a glaring weakness in his game whatsoever. I would expect Jake to log a lot of minutes for our defensive core.”

Leaman added, “We’re going to try and make sure we give him the ice that the team needs, but you also want to make sure he don’t wear down or anything. He does everything well. I’ll tell you this, it’s hard to keep him off the ice—a player that does so many things well.”

Like his teammate Pinto, Sanderson is suiting up with the University of North Dakota. However, he might not stay there long – he’s got a great chance to play soon in the NHL.