Senators Prospects November Review
by Henry Brown @SensProspects / Special To the Ottawa Senators
For prospects with hopes of playing in the upcoming World Junior Championships (WJC), November was an important month. It was their last chance to show why they deserve to be invited to their country's selection camp. With that in mind, we'll take a look at how potential candidates performed in November.
Team Canada
Leading the way was defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker (JBD) who continued to put up points for the University of North Dakota (UND). Known more for his smooth skating and responsible defensive play, JBD recorded 3 goals and 8 points in 9 games to help UND go undefeated in the month.
Back in August, JBD and his UND teammate Jonny Tychonick were added to Team Canada's roster at the World Junior Summer Showcase, an early training camp for potential WJC players. Tychonick battled illness and injury in November, but still made his mark with 2 goals and 5 points in 6 games.
A dark horse candidate to make the team, Maxence Guenette boosted his stock with a great showing for Team QMJHL at the CIBC Canada/Russia Series. Like JBD, Guenette is a right-shot defenceman who isn't known for his offence, but he still posted 2 goals and 8 points in 13 games with Val-d'Or.
Update: Bernard-Docker was named to Team Canada's selection camp roster on Monday, December 2. Although Guennette and Tychonick were not part of the initial 31-man roster, they could still be called upon as injury replacements
Team USA
While Canada had Tychonick and JBD on their roster at the World Junior Summer Showcase, Team USA had 3 Senators prospects on their squad: Jonathan Gruden, Shane Pinto, and Luke Loheit.
From that group, Jonathan Gruden is off to a fantastic start in his first season with OHL London. He sits second on the team in scoring after an excellent November where he scored 5 goals and 16 points in 11 games.
Although NCAA freshmen Shane Pinto and Luke Loheit are both considered long shots to make the team, they chipped in on scoresheets last month. Pinto scored 4 goals and added a couple assists for UND while Loheit notched his first career NCAA goal for the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Team Finland
After missing a month due to injury, Lassi Thomson returned to the lineup and quickly got back on the board, recording a goal and an assist in 4 games. One of the Liiga's best rookies, he's expected to be on Finland's top defensive pairing at the WJC and is projected to be one of the stars of the tournament.
Team Denmark
Denmark will be competing in Division 1A of the 2020 WJC after being relegated from the tournament's top tier last year. They'll be relying heavily on starting goalie Mads Søgaard who was named to the team in late November.
Three Stars
Aside from the prospects who are pushing for their shot at WJC glory, there were a few others who made headlines last month.
Down the 401 in Brampton and Belleville, Joey Daccord recorded a couple of career firsts. He notched his first pro shutout as a member of the Brampton Beast in a 3-0 win over Cincinnati on November 8th. After posting 6 wins in 11 starts with Brampton, Daccord was recalled to Belleville. He stopped 26/27 in his AHL debut on November 30, a 3-1 win over Hershey.
Sophomore NCAA forward Jakov Novak was highlighted in the October Farm Report after a hot start to his season. His strong play continued into November where Novak had 5 goals and 11 points, setting a new career high for goals and points in the process.
Another carry-over from October's report, Josh Norris was one of many Belleville Senators who excelled in November. Norris' 7 goals and 12 points in 13 games were a key part of Belleville's great month that saw the team post a 10-3-1 record.
That's a wrap on November! Stay tuned for more monthly updates, follow @SensProspects so you never miss an update, and don't be shy to reach out if there's a prospect you'd like to see featured in next month's report.
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