When the Ottawa Senators hit training camp later this month, rookie Tyler Kleven will be given every opportunity to make the team as a left-shot, third pairing defenceman.
GM Steve Staios is on record as saying Kleven could have been in Ottawa last season but was intentionally kept in Belleville. As the old hockey adage goes, when considering a callup, it’s better they’re overripe than underdeveloped.
The name of the game in Ottawa this offseason has been balancing out the roster, and the team appears to sensibly favour having their top two offensive defencemen (Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson) paired with their top two stay-at-homers (Nick Jensen and Artem Zub).
It stands to reason that concept would apply to the bottom pairing as well.
And if Kleven is likely to be the shutdown guy in that relationship, then maybe it’s redundant to have Jacob Bernard-Docker or Travis Hamonic on his right, because neither of those players have much in the way of complementary offence.
Erik Brannstrom could offer that, but he was a natural left shot who would have been overpaid in arbitration. And he’s way too small for today’s Sens, who now favour size in a big way. So he’s now in Colorado.
Last week, the Senators went out and signed 24-year-old Calen Addison to a PTO. Based on what we know about Addison, he sounds like he can do a fantastic impression of Brannstrom. He’s about the same age, maybe a little bigger, an excellent puck mover, offensive NHL numbers that are okay, and not that great defensively.
But Addison does it on the right side, plays with much more edge, better skater, and makes about a third of what Brannstrom would have made this season. So he certainly has an opportunity to provide the yin to Kleven’s yang in Ottawa.
His offensive resume is excellent.
Two years ago with Minnesota, Addison finished fifth in NHL scoring among rookie defenceman with 29 points, three points behind Jake Sanderson. At the 2020 World Juniors, Addison led all Canadian defencemen with 9 points in 7 games. That’s two points more than, for example, his new Ottawa teammate Shane Pinto had in that tournament.
I reached out to Max Miller, my colleague at The Hockey News/San Jose, who watched Addison every night last season. Here’s Miller’s scouting report:
“Calen is a smooth skating D-man with defensive flaws, but his ability to make a breakout pass is top-notch,” Miller said. “He sees passing lanes when he has time and space, and it’s rare that pass won’t be on the tape. His edge can…