It’s easy to forget about the contributions of defensive defencemen. Just look at the NHL awards – there are trophies for the highest point-getter, regular season and playoff MVPs, the best rookie (which is often the highest-scoring rookie), and the best goalie, but only one award is specifically given out to defensive players, that being the Selke Trophy for the best defensive forward. Even the Norris Trophy, awarded to the league’s best defenceman, is highly impacted by points. San Jose Sharks’ blueliner Marc-Edouard Vlasic thought it was “outrageous” that there still isn’t a defensive defenceman award.
I have been guilty of this with the Ottawa Senators Prospect of the Week honour, which has primarily gone to the highest-scoring prospect in the Senators’ system. But last week, Nikolas Matinpalo emerged as one of the team’s best defencemen. He was a plus-2 and wasn’t on the ice for a single goal for four games, giving him one of the lowest goals-against per 60 minutes in Ottawa this season. With all the injuries on the blue line, he’s arguably been just as important as Leevi Merilainen, who took over as the team’s starting goalie, stabilizing a shaky third pair and turning it into a strength. He is your Prospect of the Week for Jan 13-19, 2025.
Matinpalo Taking Advantage of Senators Injuries
Despite being 26 years old, Matinpalo has only been with the Senators organization since May 2023 after he left his native Finland to try his hand at the NHL. His first season in North America was fine, if unremarkable. He scored four goals and 14 points with the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Belleville Senators, the fifth-highest total among the team’s blueliners, but went point-less in seven playoff appearances. In his four-game call-up to the NHL, he averaged seven minutes of ice time a game, threw four hits, blocked two shots, and took two shots on goal. He wasn’t a liability, but he also was barely there.
Still, the Senators re-signed him to another one-year deal, which gave the team some additional depth on the right side. As an older prospect, Matinpalo wasn’t expected to have much of an NHL impact after his middling rookie season, but he was happy to keep working to earn another call-up to the NHL. It didn’t hurt that the Senators’ general manager and former NHL defenceman, Steve Staios, was impressed by his game. “Nikolas is a steady defensive defenceman who impressed while making his transition to the North American game last season,” he said in a release after the new contract was announced. “He held a key shutdown role in Belleville, was a strong penalty killer, and performed well in NHL games when he was recalled to Ottawa.”
Matinpalo’s big break finally came in January. Over four days, the Senators lost Jacob Bernard-Docker, Travis Hamonic, and defensive forward Noah Gregor, leaving their defence in shambles. Ottawa quickly recalled anyone who could fill in on the bottom six, hoping to weather the storm until some injured players returned. But Matinpalo took it to another level. In the eight games since he was recalled from Belleville, he’s averaged 1.6 goals against per 60 minutes (GA/60), and 56.8 Corsi For per 60 minutes, and has been on the ice for just three of the Senators’ 11 goals against.
Related: Ottawa Senators Prospect of the Week – Leevi Merilainen
But Matinpalo’s best showing came last week. In four games, he put up two blocks and two hits, and was a plus-2 while averaging under 13 minutes of ice time. He also faced 11 scoring chances against, six of which were high-danger chances, yet none of them got through. But he also was on the ice for three of the Senators’ nine regulation goals and even made two rush attempts, the highest total of any Senator in those four games. He’s been the perfect third-pairing defenceman, which could force out one of Bernard-Docker or Hamonic when they return.
Senators Honourable Mentions & Check-Ins
There were a few strong offensive performances in the Senators’ system last week. Owen Beckner put up four assists in just two games with Colorado College, all of which came in the 7-2 walloping of the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs on Jan 17. While he’s not the most offensively gifted player, he’s incredibly intelligent and observant on the ice, making him a strong two-way forward. He now has 13 points in 22 games as an NCAA freshman.
Sticking with surprising two-way players, Filip Nordberg had a strong week with a breakaway goal and an assist in his only appearance with the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Sioux Falls Stampede. His game is built around speed, physicality, and defence, but he owns a heavy shot and can serve as a team’s playmaker, and against the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP), he helped the Stampede roll to a 10-3 victory. His latest effort gives him three goals and seven points on the season.
Finally, we have another first to report – Zach Ostapchuk finally scored his first NHL goal after 39 games, putting away the first goal of the game against the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 19. Like Matinpalo, Ostapchuk has taken advantage of the Senators’ injuries and firmly established himself as one of the team’s best depth centres, using his speed and aggressiveness to create opportunities and shut down scoring chances. Don’t expect him to go back to Belleville anytime soon.
Tune in next week to see which prospect stood above the rest.
