Ottawa-Gatineau is getting the annual Prospect Challenge this weekend, and this year’s version is strictly Canadian. The Senators, Canadiens, Leafs and Jets will all be in the mix on Saturday, September 12th and Sunday, September 13th at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau.
The schedule is packed from top to bottom. Winnipeg meets Montreal at 1:00pm on Saturday, then Ottawa faces Toronto at 6:00pm. On Sunday, Toronto plays Winnipeg at 1:00pm before Ottawa closes the event against Montreal at 6:00pm.
Tickets are set at $20, and doors open one hour before each game. The Senators are also giving fans more than just the games: there’s an open practice at 10:00am on Saturday, and the rookies will be signing autographs at the arena concourse at 5:15pm on both days. Outside Centre Slush Puppie, the team is putting on balloons and inflatables, face painting, photo stations and street hockey starting at 12:00pm on both days.
For fans, this will be the first hockey many have seen since Ottawa was eliminated from the playoffs in April. And with a lot of these players already having started preseason work with junior, collegiate or European clubs, sharp execution may not be the headline. The prospects who tend to pop in this kind of setting are the ones with obvious physical gifts - the fast skater, the heavy hitter - more than the players whose game depends on timing, deception and chemistry.
Up front, there’s plenty to sort through. The 2026 draftees Nemec, Bourque and Cover are all worth a close look after strong preseasons.
Nemec stood out at the U20 Five Nations Tournament, Louis-Felix Bourque has been used at centre in Drummondville, and Jaxon Cover has been putting up points with London. Jonas Lagerberg Hoen will be on the practice ice only as he continues to work back from last season’s knee injury.
Two other forwards should draw plenty of attention in Senators sweaters for the first time: Eskild Bakke-Olsen and Kasper Halttunen. If they really do have top-nine NHL upside, they should be among the best forwards on the ice.
The power play should run through them, and their professional experience makes their physical engagement a key thing to monitor against players they ought to be stronger than. Oskar Pettersson is another name to track, especially if he’s trying to build toward a stronger offensive year in Belleville and eventually carve out a depth role with Ottawa.
There are also a couple of wildcards. Lucas Ellinas played just 11 games last season, but he tends to rise in big moments and is a die hard Sens fan, so matchups with the Leafs and Canadiens should bring out plenty from him. Blake Vanek, an August birthday and one of the youngest players taken in the 2025 NHL Draft, is coming off a rookie WHL season in which he produced about 0.5 points-per-game and should be aiming for a bigger year.
Among the invitees, the skill level stands out. Zackary Shantz is looking for a pro contract after a point-per-game season with the WHL Champion Everett Silvertips.
Harrison Franssen of Oshawa posted 24 goals and 42 points in 64 OHL games. Luke Mitselbacher scored 40 goals in back-to-back seasons and also appeared in three AHL games with Belleville after his WHL career ended.
Danny Walters, 18, is another player the organization is keeping tabs on as a re-entry next season. Compared with past tournaments, this group leans more toward skill than size.
On the back end, Hoyt Stanley is one of the names people around the organization keep mentioning. He turned pro after finishing at Cornell, looked good in his limited run with Belleville and won the Jonathan Pitre Award at summer development camp.
He’ll get a chance to measure himself against Toronto and Montreal’s top prospects, and the event should help clarify where he stands among Ottawa’s right-shot defensemen heading into main camp. Christian Kyrou, signed as a free agent, is the main competition there, and his offensive ability gives him a different kind of case than Stanley’s sturdier defensive game.
The left side is just as interesting. Gabriel Eliasson, Tomas Hamara and Matthew Andonovski all have something riding on this weekend.
Hamara has the most pro experience of the group and comes with familiarity from the Hamilton/Brantford connection, but his Czechia pedigree at multiple World Juniors hasn’t yet turned into top AHL minutes. Andonovski brings a lot of the traits teams want in a third-pair NHL defender: he captained Kitchener, earned recognition as one of the OHL’s best defensive defenders, shot blockers and penalty killers, and then won the Memorial Cup.
He was the odd blueliner out in Belleville last year, and now he’s trying to force his way into regular AHL minutes. Eliasson is the youngest of the three - he turned 20 two days ago - and probably the one with the most to prove.
He already has a pro contract and wants to show he can handle AHL minutes this season rather than heading back to the OHL. At 6-foot-7, he has the frame and the mobility, but his puck skills, decision-making and discipline have been issues at times.
The two tryout defenders also add a local angle. Justin Blais is from Gatineau, while Kaleb Dietsch is from Ottawa, and both are heading into their fourth junior season.
In goal, the organization has a decision to make with four netminders in the mix. They could split the group into two starters and give each one a game, or they could divide the starts by halves.
Lucas Beckman wants to establish himself as the top goalie in the QMJHL and help Cape Breton reach a Memorial Cup. Kevin Reidler is trying to show why Ottawa brought him out of collegiate hockey early to play a regular role in Belleville.
Jackson Parsons is looking for more AHL time. Elliot Lennon has the steepest climb of the group, coming from the U.S. high school circuit and just a couple of USHL games.
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