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Thomas Chabot recently surpassed a monumental milestone making it to 500 career NHL games as an Ottawa Senators. He followed it up last night with the encore by burying the first of the game versus the Detroit Red Wings. As a team note, it also marked the first-career point as an Ottawa Senators for Fabian Zetterlund. It was just such a fitting tribute to the conclusion of the dads’ trip, after Buffalo handed Ottawa the loss in the first game. However, they did so in somewhat spectacular fashion allowing Lindy Ruff to record his 600th win with Buffalo. He is currently in second, behind Al Arbour on the all-time list for wins with one franchise. Quite impressive, yes, but now on to Thomas Chabot’s terrific career after being able to enjoy the victory in Detroit last evening.
Our Ode to Thomas Chabot Reaching 500 Games as a Sen
Chabot was originally drafted in the first round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Next, he debuted in just one single, solitary game for Ottawa throughout the entire 2016-17 season. Moreover, despite being the longest tenured current Senator, he still has zero games of NHL playoff experience. This Senators group and he would love nothing more than to bump that seemingly constant feeling of missing out come April.
Recapping his statistical highs, and we see a defender who has been highly successful. His career marks are as follows with games played (68), goals (14), assists (41), and points (55). However, we will note that many of Chabot’s best seasons would have came as the Sens top power play defenceman. He has more recently been overtaken by Jake Sanderson, but deservingly so. Plus it allows Chabot to focus on dominating 5v5. So far this year, with not many games left, he is on pace for 81 gp, seven goals, 32 assists, and 39 total points.
The Match Made on the Rideau Canal
It does appear that Thomas Chabot has finally found an effective partner to form a defensive duo with in Ottawa. Moreover, Nick Jensen and Chabot have a very good rating as a pairing this year. According to moneypuck, their xGoals% is just over 49%, but they do play a lot together, against top offensive players. Therefore, they are doing well to help tip the scales in the team’s favour, especially with highly precision-like goaltending. In contrast, they have an actual goal rate of above 54%. The 5% favourable dislocation is extremely efficient of them. It is definitely one of the best players Chabot has had in terms of chemistry back to the Dylan DeMelo days.
Some may point to the fact that Chabot is below his career average ice time by about 50 seconds. Conversely, it has allowed him to relax and play his game. He doesn’t have the added pressure of needing to produce on the top power play. It is very nice for the Senators having the vanity of Jake Sanderson back there playing the position.
What’s next for Chabot and the Sens?
Of course, at this time, individual performances are secondary to team results. With Ottawa’s victory and the Philadelphia Flyers downing the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa retains and even grows their positioning in the playoff picture. As much as all the players are playing well, Chabot and Jensen will be a reliable piece of work remaining to accomplish. Furthermore, Chabot’s performance down the stretch will continue to be a very large, and perhaps, underrated favourable influence of the Sens outcome when it comes to their playoff lives. The cushion is good for now, but can they hold on?
And we out. Catch us next time on Last Word on Hockey!
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