The Ottawa Senators have turned to Jorian Donovan for help on the blue line, recalling the defenseman ahead of their road trip to New Jersey.
That move comes with Cameron Crotty heading to injured reserve, retroactive to his last appearance on October 6th. Crotty has already missed Ottawa’s last two games because of illness and will not be available for Monday’s matchup against the Devils.
He can come back into the mix before Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
Crotty had been filling in for Artem Zub, who remains out with an injury suffered in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In two games this season, Crotty has no scoring and one hit.
Across 11 NHL appearances over the last four seasons, he still hasn’t found the scoresheet. Most of his work has come in the AHL, where he’s logged 332 games over the last five years between the Tucson Roadrunners, Iowa Wild and Belleville Senators.
In that stretch, he has produced 59 points and 179 penalty minutes.
With Crotty out, Ottawa used Hoyt Stanley on the right side of its third pair. Stanley has one penalty and two shot blocks in two games, and he should remain in the lineup Monday against New Jersey. That leaves Donovan as the team’s extra defender for now.
Donovan, 22, posted 21 points and 89 penalty minutes in 61 AHL games last season. He also got into the first two NHL games of his career, though he did not record a point or a penalty.
Ottawa could also choose to move the left-handed Donovan ahead of the right-handed Nikolas Matinpalo, who has been lining up on the left side of Ottawa’s bottom pair. Matinpalo has no scoring and four penalty minutes in five games this season, and he was in the lineup for the 100th game of his NHL career in Saturday’s shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.
In Other News...
Senators Lineup Shuffle Puts Pressure On Ottawas Patchwork Defense
A day before facing the New Jersey Devils, the Senators are already tinkering with a lineup that has little room for error. Ottawa recalled defenceman Jorian Donovan from Belleville and put Cam Crotty on the injured list, another sign of how thin the blue line has become as the club tries to stay afloat through injuries and absences. Travis Green also shuffled his forwards, with William Eklund out and Linus Ullmark lined up to start after another strong stretch in net.
The changes leave Ottawa asking more of its depth than it probably planned this early in the season. Donovans arrival gives the staff another option on defence, but the bigger picture is still about patching together a roster that keeps shifting from night to night. Greens top-six adjustments are meant to keep the attack moving, yet the real pressure may be on how well the Senators can survive a game that already feels like a test of their lineup flexibility. [Read more 🡒]
Ottawa Prospect Watch Centers On One Encouraging Early Syracuse Trend
The Syracuse Crunch have stumbled to a 1-3-0 start, but Ottawas prospect picture in central New York is not without a few early signs to track. Their latest game, a 3-2 loss to the Belleville Senators, offered another reminder that the Crunch are still trying to find their footing, even as Jakob Pelletier has begun contributing assists after leading the AHL in scoring last season.
For the Senators, the bigger interest may be the steady return of Dominic James, who is working his way back after a broken hand and is expected to rejoin the lineup soon following a conditioning stint. In goal, Mads Sogaard has been the more encouraging of Syracuses two new netminders so far, giving Ottawa another development storyline worth watching as the AHL season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Injury Trouble Could Change The Trade Market Fast
A strong start to the season has suddenly given the Senators a tougher question to answer, after winger Tim Eklund was lost to injury and Ottawa began sorting through how to replace a top-six forward. The timing matters because this group has been building momentum, and now the pressure shifts to the rest of the lineup to keep the offense moving without one of its key pieces.
Management does not have an easy fix sitting there, and the internal options are already being tested by the demands of the schedule. Andre Burakovsky has only just made his Senators debut after missing four games with an undisclosed preseason injury, which only adds to the sense that Ottawa may have to get creative if it wants to avoid letting a good opening month drift off course. [Read more 🡒]