The Ottawa Senators are bringing back a familiar face. Tyler Ennis spent 61 games during the 2019-20 campaign with the team and he’s coming back on a PTO this offseason. As per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, “the club likes what he brings to the table.”
Ennis spent parts of the previous two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers where he was in and out of the lineup. He scored nine points in 30 games but there was some thought to bringing him back on a PTO basis as he was skating with many members of the team this season. It’s not clear if he signed a PTO with Ottawa because the Oilers signed Colton Sceviour to a PTO or if he’s trying to show that there are teams interested in what he brings to a team. This could also be the simple fact that he knows the Senators organization and felt there was a fit there.
Ennis will have a decent chance to make the Ottawa roster. The team did sign Logan Brown this past week, but they are shy at depth in the forward position. Ennis can play a bottom-six role, sit out a game every once and a while, or slot in on a team’s top six when the situation calls for it.
If he does make the roster, it’s hard to imagine he gets anything more than a league-minimum contract offer.
Ennis was drafted 28th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and had a nice run there before seeing his ice time decrease and become a player who was well-travelled and had to compete to stay in the league. He has previously played for the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs, along with the Sabres, Senators, and Oilers.
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