The Ottawa Senators are having a very rough go of things. The last two days in particular haven’t been great for them. First it was the Shane Pinto situation, then Erik Brannstrom’s injury, before head coach DJ Smith revealed that Thomas Chabot would miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured hand.
Chabot has been the Senators’ number-one defenseman for a good number of years, and even with the emergence of other talent, he still leads the way. The former 2015 first-round pick recorded three assists in seven games on the season so far but was logging well over 24 minutes a game of ice time. The team has already lost three in a row and is 3-4-0 with him. Now it is going to get tougher. With that said, there will be players who will benefit. These players will get bumps in fantasy as well, but there will also be players negatively impacted. Let’s take a look at the fantasy hockey impact of Chabot’s injury.
Which Senators Players Get a Bump From the Thomas Chabot Injury
Chabot logs the most minutes on the Senators each night. He also logs over three power-play minutes per night. While Jakub Chychrun and Jake Sanderson are both effective on the power play, that means one or both of them get an even better opportunity. The team seemingly runs two top power-play units. Sanderson is currently serving on the top unit, but the team does try and fit in the second unit a lot with Chabot and Chychrun on the blue line.
If anything, a forward will be added to the second unit. As for even strength, Sanderson and Chychrun will have to step up a major amount. Chychrun is more of the winner here since he’s third among the Senators’ defensemen in ice time. Either the team will load up the top pairing with Sanderson and Chychrun (unlikely), or they will just play a ton everywhere else. We have to remember that Chabot, Brannstrom, and Artem Zub are all currently sidelined. Though the Chabot injury really puts pressure on Sanderson and Chychrun, they will be leaned on a ton. Chychrun could arguably find himself even killing some penalties. That’s good for more ice time and other stats in fantasy hockey.
Who is Negatively Impacted on the Senators
To get this out of the way, Chabot’s injury negatively impacts the team as a whole for sure. As the most trusted defenseman, he leaves a big gap. He is Sanderson’s partner on the top pair, so it’s very likely Sanderson will get a less effective partner for the time being. He’s having no problem producing, but the point pace might drop.
As stated above, Chabot was on the second power-play unit. I think that everyone on that unit is a little worse off. Chabot is a solid offensive player and adds positive things to that unit. That means fantasy-relevant players like Claude Giroux, Vladimir Tarasenko, Dominik Kubalik, and Chychrun might see reduced time on the power play and worse results. It’s very likely this unit goes out second more often than not now.
For those who lost Chabot on your fantasy hockey team, there are no real new options on the Senators to go and pick up. The top players will just have to have more of an impact, but it won’t be easy. The Senators are hoping for a speedy recovery. It’s best to check out players from other teams on the waiver wire for a replacement for Chabot in the meantime.