Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot suffered an upper-body injury Tuesday night in the club’s game against the Dallas Stars at Canadian Tire Centre. Chabot was injured near the end of the first period on a hard hit against the boards by Stars forward Colin Blackwell.
The bodycheck occurred at the Stars’ bench, where there’s no glass, and it looked like Chabot’s lower back or left rib area took the brunt of the hit, colliding with the hard edge at the top of the boards.
Chabot came out for the second-period warm-up but, after a quick skate around, he headed down the tunnel and was shut down for the night.
There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury, but the left side of Ottawa’s blue line is probably the part of the lineup least prepared to absorb a loss. The next man up to start the season was Donovan Sebrango, but he was claimed on waivers by the Florida Panthers when the Senators tried to send him down to the minors last month. Sebrango has played the last five games for the Cup champs and had two assists on Monday night in their win in Vegas.
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The left-shot defensive options in Belleville that are under contract include Jorian Donovan, Tomas Hamara, and Matthew Andonovski — a group that’s completely void of NHL experience.
Former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington is also with Belleville on an AHL contract and represents the only option on the left side with NHL experience. Harrington has played 255 NHL games, mostly with Columbus, but hasn’t appeared since the 2022–23 season, when he split 45 games between the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks.
It’s probably more likely that Nikolas Matinpalo will draw back into the lineup while someone like Jordan Spence will be asked to move over to the left side. It’s also possible GM Steve Staios may need to step up the urgency in the trade market.
As for Chabot, who has 10 points in 16 games this season, his status will likely be clarified sometime tomorrow, although head coach Travis Green may have more to share after the game. Stranger things have happened.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News/Ottawa
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