The Senators are once again reaching into Belleville for help, and this time they’re bringing up two forwards as the injuries keep piling up.
According to the AHL transactions page, Ottawa has called up Philip Tomasino and Xavier Bourgault ahead of Saturday afternoon’s road matchup with the San Jose Sharks, set for 4 p.m. Eastern. It comes at a time when Warren Foegele and Andre Burakovsky are both hurt, while Hayden Hodgson is facing a suspension.
For Steve Green’s group, it’s turned into a constant shuffle. Every time the Senators seem close to getting whole, another hole opens up.
Foegele is expected to be out for an extended stretch, while Burakovsky’s latest injury remains unclear. He had already missed four games earlier this season because of an upper-body injury. Ottawa is also still without William Eklund, who remains sidelined after ankle surgery.
Tomasino and Bourgault have been producing in a big way for Belleville. The two former first-round picks have combined for 20 points in 10 games, and both have made strong cases for another NHL look. Burakovsky’s season has stalled, with zero points in eight games, so the timing of these recalls makes sense.
Tomasino is the more proven of the two, with 11 points in 10 games for Belleville and 218 games of NHL experience split between Nashville and Pittsburgh.
Belleville made a move of its own in response, signing Ottawa native Kyle McDonald to a PTO. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound winger has spent the past three seasons with the AHL’s Texas Stars.
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Senators Suddenly Face A Depth Test At The Worst Time
The Senators are reaching into Belleville for help at a time when their lineup is already getting stretched thin. Ottawa recalled forwards Xavier Bourgault and Phil Tomasino to reinforce the group as injuries and a looming suspension force the club to patch together its depth, with Andre Burakovsky likely unavailable because of a lower-body injury.
Hayden Hodgson is also headed for a suspension hearing after a dangerous hit, adding another layer of uncertainty to a forward corps that is suddenly short on answers. With the starting goaltender still sidelined by a lower-body strain and both Jonas Johansson and Samuel Ersson coming off shaky recent starts, Ottawa is juggling more than one problem at once, and the timing could hardly be worse. [Read more 🡒]