‘I can still make it’: Senators prospect Xavier Bourgault senses looming NHL opportunity

By: Callum Fraser / Postmedia Ottawa

Xavier Bourgault knows his National Hockey League window is opening.

“I really felt like last year was a breakout season,” Bourgault told the Ottawa Citizen in a phone interview on Tuesday. “I felt like I was finding my game like I did like back in junior. I was really confident making plays that I used to make when I was younger.”

The 23-year-old Ottawa Senators prospect had his best season of pro hockey by a wide margin in 2025-26, racking up 57 points (25 goals, 32 assists) in 70 games for Belleville of the American Hockey League.

“When you get to that that age, you have to continue to improve — you can’t get complacent,” Belleville coach Andrew Campbell said. “Bourgy had a tremendous amount of opportunity last year, and to his credit, he took full advantage of it. As far as consistency goes, he was one of, if not the most consistent player we had all year. He took great strides in his game. He obviously earned his first couple of NHL games, which is awesome.”

Perhaps it’s taken Bourgault a little longer than he expected to be knocking on the door of an NHL club.

Ahead of the 2021 NHL Draft, he had the highest points per game (1.38) of any draft-eligible player in his third season with the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. He was a standout shooter — scoring 53 goals in 92 games across two seasons leading up to Draft Day — and an excellent playmaker who many believed projected as a middle-six skater in the NHL.

It was nearly impossible to find a scout that didn’t have him going in the first round. And so he did.

You can read the full article in the Ottawa Sun by clicking here.