Jaiden Newton knows the Ottawa 67’s won’t ask him to be a one-dimensional addition. That was never the point of the June trade that brought him from Barrie to Ottawa, and Newton says he wants more than just the reputation he built with the Colts.
The 67’s sent a third- and fifth-round pick to Barrie for the 5-foot-11, 180-pound centre, and GM Jan Egert wasn’t chasing a splashy scoring move. He wanted a veteran, competitive middleman who could bring leadership, flexibility and work in the faceoff dot. Newton, though, sees room to do more when the season opens Sunday in Kingston.
“I want to step up my offensive game, which I know I’m very capable of,” Newton, who turns 19 next month, said before Ottawa players went for a little pickup baseball on Friday during a day off from the rink. “I just want to be given that chance to be put in those offensive situations. I’m just looking to play a big role here and help the team any way I can.”
That offensive upside is part of the package, but Newton is equally comfortable leaning into the grind. Over three seasons with Barrie, he put up 14 goals and 31 assists in 216 games, including 42 playoff games, while building a reputation as a player opponents hated to face.
“I’ve always played a game where I’m just hard to play against … you’re not going to be having an easy time when I’m playing against you,” Newton said. “Very responsible, all over the ice.
I’m not a guy that cheats for offence or stuff like that. I like to compete.
I can execute my plays and produce on offence when it’s there.”
That kind of player fits neatly into what Ottawa was last season. The 67’s were one of only three OHL teams to hit 100 points, and they did it without leaning heavily on scoring alone.
Graduated forward Cooper Foster led the way with 29 goals and 37 assists for 66 points, good for a tie for 25th in the league scoring race. The real backbone was team defence, strong goaltending and a tight group that carried over into this year.
Assistant coach Norm Milley said the connection inside the room has been a major part of the team’s identity.
“We had a good group there last year, and with the players we have coming back, our veteran players and our younger players, it just kind of rolled right into this season,” Milley said. “I think the biggest thing you take away is the off-ice stuff.
They love hanging around with each other. They compete, they work … in practice they compete against each other, and then there’s the small details in the locker room, even the small details on the bus.
The bus is clean when they leave it.
“I’m a firm believer that if you take care of the small details in life, the big details will take care of themselves. I think our young guys and our older guys are doing a good job with that.”
For Newton, the move meant crossing from one side of a playoff fight to the other. He expected to be back in Barrie after three years there and was surprised when the trade came through.
“I was in Barrie for three years and had great billets there, and then randomly one day I found out I’m moving to Ottawa,” he said. “It’s a change for sure, but it’s been good so far.”
The shift from enemy to teammate wasn’t nearly as awkward as it might sound. Ottawa and Barrie had just gone through a nine-game season series that included five games in a second-round playoff matchup, so Newton had already spent plenty of time battling the players he now shares a dressing room with.
“It’s more like you play hard on the ice and then you respect each other off the ice,” Newton said. “It was funny when I got traded here I was kind of thinking, ‘Oh, yeah, that was a pretty rough series.
I wonder how the boys are gonna like me and stuff.’ But that’s the good thing about hockey.
You can try to kill each other on the ice, then you go off the ice, and everyone’s best friends.
“It was definitely something I was thinking about, but no, they’ve welcomed me pretty well.”
Barrie’s side of the story was a strong one last season, too. The Colts won the Central Division with 99 points and then rolled through the postseason, beating Niagara in five games, Ottawa in five games, and after falling behind 3-1 to the favored Brampton Bulldogs in the Eastern Conference final, they came all the way back with three straight wins to reach the OHL championship series against the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kitchener Rangers.
In Other News...
Carter Yakemchuk Faces The One Hurdle Between Him And Ottawa
The Senators still have room for competition at training camp, and that keeps the door open for Carter Yakemchuk as he tries to turn a strong prospect case into a real NHL job. The 20-year-old defenseman is viewed as one of Ottawas best bets to crack the roster, but the path is not simply about talent. For Yakemchuk, the focus is on sharpening his defensive game and showing he can stay within the teams systems.
Ottawas blue line picture gives him an opening, with roster spots available and established names not fully locking things down yet. Yakemchuk has the kind of upside that makes him hard to ignore, but this is the stage where coaches want to see details, discipline and trust away from the puck. If he clears that hurdle, the Senators may have a difficult decision to make sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Camp Opens With An Early Injury Problem To Manage
Training camp is opening with a little less depth than the Senators would like, as Travis Green said the club will be without defenseman Artem Zub and winger Warren Foegele to start. Both players have resumed skating, which is at least a sign the absence should be temporary, but it leaves Ottawa to sort through the first days of camp without two veterans who were expected to be in the mix.
Zub is working his way back from a lower-body injury, while Foegele is dealing with an undisclosed issue, and the timeline on both points to a return within the next two weeks. For a team trying to get its roster set early, the missed reps matter, even if the injuries do not appear to be long-term concerns. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Locked Up Drake Batherson And The Timing Says Plenty
Drake Batherson is now the latest core piece the Senators have taken off the board, reaching an agreement on an eight-year extension that keeps him in Ottawa through the 2034-35 season. The deal gives the club one of its most established forwards for the long haul, and it comes with the kind of price tag that signals just how much faith the organization has in where his game is headed.
The timing added another layer to the story, with the contract getting done on the final day players could sign eight-year extensions under the NHLs expiring collective bargaining agreement. Bathersons agent and the Senators general manager both confirmed the agreement, and Batherson said he was happy with the contract, leaving Ottawa with the comfort of knowing he is locked in just as the rules on these deals are about to change. [Read more 🡒]