The Ottawa Senators made a couple of expected moves today, reassigning forward Stephen Halliday and goaltender Hunter Shepard to their AHL affiliate in Belleville. With the Olympic break looming and NHL teams entering a multi-week pause, this is the kind of roster management that gives younger players continued ice time and keeps development on track.
Let’s start with Halliday. The 23-year-old center is in the midst of his rookie NHL season, and it’s been a promising one.
At 6’4”, Halliday brings size down the middle, but it’s his offensive instincts that have stood out. Drafted in the fourth round back in 2022, he’s quietly built a case as one of Ottawa’s more intriguing young talents.
After wrapping up a productive collegiate career at Ohio State, he hit the ground running in the pros - putting up 14 points in just 17 combined regular season and playoff games for Belleville after signing in spring 2024.
This season, he’s taken another step forward. In 22 AHL games, Halliday has racked up 26 points - a strong scoring clip that reflects his ability to drive play at that level.
But what’s really encouraging for Ottawa is that he’s started to show flashes of that same offensive touch in the NHL. Through 25 games with the big club, he’s chipped in 11 points despite averaging just over eight minutes of ice time per game.
He’s also seeing nearly two minutes a night on the power play, and he’s making the most of those opportunities.
The Senators entered the year with Halliday ranked as their No. 7 prospect, and the scouting report painted a picture of a potential top-nine playmaking power forward - provided he could improve his skating and overall pace. While there’s still work to be done, this season has been a step in the right direction. The reassignment to Belleville isn’t a demotion - it’s a chance for Halliday to keep building momentum while the NHL pauses for the Olympics.
Then there’s Shepard. His move is more routine, and frankly, expected.
The 28-year-old netminder has mostly been an AHL presence this season, and his brief NHL stint - just 36 minutes of action - reflects that. Once a standout in the minors, Shepard was a key figure in the Hershey Bears’ back-to-back Calder Cup championships not long ago.
But the last couple of seasons have been a different story.
In 2024-25, Shepard’s numbers dipped, finishing with an .891 save percentage over 39 games in Hershey. That led the Capitals to look elsewhere in net, and Shepard found a new home with Ottawa in the offseason.
But his struggles have followed him to Belleville, where he’s posted an .888 save percentage through 14 games. With his contract set to expire this summer, he’s facing an uphill battle to prove he can still be a reliable option between the pipes.
For both players, this reassignment is about opportunity - just in different ways. Halliday gets a chance to keep sharpening his game in a top-line role, while Shepard will look to find his footing and try to recapture some of the form that once made him one of the AHL’s most dependable goaltenders. With the Olympic break now in full swing, the Senators are giving both players the ice time they need to keep moving forward.