Familiar faces shine as Senators prospects split weekend in Montreal with Leafs and Jets

Prospects from around the National Hockey League were on the ice this past weekend, participating in exhibition showcase tournaments across North America, with training camps set to open this week.

For those up-and-coming players in the Senators organization, that meant a weekend in Montreal for matchups against young stars from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets. It was a new-look event for the Sens, with games played at the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens. The Senators have typically spent a week in Buffalo this time of year, playing in the prospects event put on by the Sabres, but even those games were played on a practice rink, not in the NHL building.

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell and his staff take the reins for the prospects event each year, giving them a chance to not only get a first look at some of the new players joining the ranks, but also to start building chemistry for those players that will likely spend time in the American Hockey League during the upcoming season. Ottawa’s prospects showdown roster this year included nine players that dressed for the Belleville Sens in 2024-25, along with a handful more who will hit the ice in the Friendly City in 2025-26.

Here’s a recap of the action:

Saturday, September 13, 2025 – Ottawa Senators – 4 vs Toronto Maple Leafs – 3

It was a strong start to the weekend for the young Senators, who bested their provincial rivals from Toronto 4-3, in at matinee affair last Saturday to kick off the 2025 Prospects Showdown.

With plenty of spotlight surrounding him, towering defenceman Carter Yakemchuk (drafted by the Ottawa with the seventh overall selection in 2024), wasted no time proving that he’s ready to turn pro. The soon-to-be 20-year-old from Fort MacMurray, Alberta, hammered a rebound off the near boards towards the net, and it skipped up past Artur Akhtyamov in the Toronto goal. Yakemchuk’s opening marker came less than 3:00 into the game and the Sens would follow up with another, about three minutes after that. Belleville’s top scorer from last season, forward Stephen Halliday, pounced on a puck in the slot that had bounced off a Toronto defender’s stick, and buried it to extend the Ottawa lead to 2-0 by the end of the first period.

Another familiar face to Belleville Sens fans would increase the Ottawa lead to three midway through the second period. Tyler Boucher (selected 10th overall in 2021) snapped home a wrist shot from the left circle, on the power play, following passes from Yakemchuk and Jamieson Rees (played 42 games for Belleville last season). Toronto would get one goal back before the end of the second, by way of Luke Haymes. 

The Leafs drew closer in the third, with Toronto Marlies standout Jake Quillan beating Jackson Parsons early in the period. But Yakemchuk would strike again in highlight reel fashion. The big defender took a sweet feed from Halliday, faked out the Toronto defender and goaltender, and lifted a backhand into a basically empty cage. Toronto’s Ryan Kirwan made it a one-goal game again a couple of minutes later, but the Yakemchuk marker, along with a strong finish in the Sens’ net from Parsons, would make the difference for Ottawa.

Sunday, September 14, 2025 – Ottawa Senators -2 vs Winnipeg Jets – 3 (OT)

After the matinee win on Saturday, the Senators would move into the primetime 7:00 p.m. slot on Sunday against the prospects from the Winnipeg Jets, and got locked into another close affair, that would end in an overtime defeat.

As they did the day before, Ottawa opened the scoring in the first period, but this time about 12 minutes in. Ottawa came flying through the neutral zone with Xavier Bourgault (12 goals, 14 assists in 61 games with Belleville last season) making a slick pass to Phil Daoust (entering his fifth season with the Senators), who fed Oskar Pettersson on a two-on-one, and the 21-year-old Swede (entering his second full pro season) finished off the play for the only scoring of the opening frame.

Winnipeg would score back-to-back, a couple of minutes apart, in the second period. But, sophomore defenceman Jorian Donovan (picked in the 5th round in 2022) would get a seeing-eye wrist shot to buzz through the crowd and into the back of the net, to tie the game 2-2. 

Despite Ottawa outshooting Winnipeg 37-23 in the game, there was no scoring in the third, and the Jets would score on a rebound 1:17 into overtime, to end the game. The Senators net was shared by Vladimir Nikitin (Ottawa’s 7th round pick in 2023) and Lucas Beckman (drafted in the 4th round this past summer).

The Senators finished the weekend with a record of 1-0-1, while the Jets went 2-0-0 and Toronto went 1-0-1. The hosts from Montreal had a record of 0-0-2, losing to both the Jets and the Leafs.

Training Camps Up Next

Following Sundays game, players and staff returned to Ottawa, where the NHL club will open up its training camp later this week. Players are expected to begin arriving in Belleville near the end of this month, with the AHL Sens’ camp set to open the week of September 29.

The full 2025-26 Belleville Senators schedule is available here.

Single-game tickets for the first-half of the 2025-26 season are now on sale via Ticketmaster or at the Belleville Sens Box Office located inside the Quinte Sports & Wellness Centre. Details on season seat memberships, flex packs, premium seating, the Business Edge program, and more can be found by visiting the Belleville Sens Website. 

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