There has been a lot of movement on the Belleville Senators roster front as we near the end of the first month of hockey’s free agency period.
Ottawa General Manager Steve Staios and Belleville GM Matt Turek have evaluated last season’s roster and performances, and identified the players they’d like to keep in the organization for continued development, as well as those they’d like to target to supplement the group, adding more skill and experience.
Here’s a recap of the dozen or so signings that have been completed so far, along with some updates on who’s headed elsewhere to start the 2025-26 campaign.
Who’s back?
Among the returning players signed by the Senators so far this season, goaltender Leevi Merilainen is probably the biggest name to re-up. Merilainen was masterful for the Senators at both the NHL and AHL levels last season, and has earned himself an extra season to make his mark.
The Senators also brought back Hayden Hodgson on a two-year NHL contract, giving the 29-year-old veteran power forward some stability for a couple of seasons. And, the club brought back forwards Wyatt Bongiovanni and Xavier Bourgault on two-way NHL deals for another season. Bongiovanni will be relied upon to continue his consistent scoring pace, as he did in 2024-25, while Bourgault will look to rebound from a season impacted by injury and prove why he was a first-round draft pick to Edmonton a few years back.
While all of those players could stay in the Nation’s Capital, or make their way to the Friendly City, the Belleville Sens have also signed three returning players on one-year, one-way, American Hockey League contracts for the upcoming season.
Forward Jamieson Rees will be back for his second full season with the Senators, after being picked up in a deadline day trade in 2023-24, Keean Washkurak returns for another season looking to continue in a leadership role and help Belleville get back to the Calder Cup Playoffs, and Phil Daoust looks to build off the busiest season of his injury-plagued career, after playing a career-high .
Who’s In?
A handful of players will become first-time Senators this season, either in Ottawa or Belleville, including the four signed by Ottawa GM Steve Staios to one-year, two-way NHL contracts.
Goaltender Hunter Shepard brings a pair of Calder Cup Championships, an AHL top goaltender award and a pair of AHL All-Star selections to the Bay of Quinte Region, helping to supplement the team’s…
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