Thomas Chabot is without a doubt, the best defensive prospect the Ottawa Senators have right now.
While Chabot looks like a slam-dunk top-flight NHL defenceman, potentially as early as this season, there are legitimate questions about the organization’s depth when it comes to prospects on the back end. And if we had this same conversation last summer, it’s possible that Chabot would have been the only defenceman with NHL potential in the system.
Well that was until the emergence of Andreas Englund.
Selected in the 2nd round (40th overall) in the 2014 Entry Draft, Englund has been steadily rising up the organization’s prospect depth chart and at this point, he’s probably the second best blueline prospect in the organization.
Standing at 6’3 and 190lbs, the 20 year old Englund already has NHL size and strength. While his skating certainly isn’t elite, he makes up for it with smart defensive play and competent puck-handling skills. Oh yea, and he’s mean too.
Englund is best described as a shutdown defenceman. According to EliteProspects.com
Englund is a big, strong defensive defenseman who makes good outlet passes and has sound mobility. Uses positioning and physical play when the situation calls for it. Can handle the puck but fancy puck skills are not his forte.
Englund spent last season with Djugarden in Sweden, picking up six points in 46 games and wearing an A for most of the season. At the World Juniors, Englund was the Captain of Team Sweden and earned rave reviews throughout the tournament despite limited offensive output (2 points in 7 games).
Englund appeared in his third Development Camp with the Senators last month.
Get to know #Sens prospect Andreas Englund as he speaks with Sens TV about his third #SensDevCamp.https://t.co/E09P5Kr5wu
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 26, 2016
In many ways, Englund is a throwback to a different era of defencemen. He’s never going to blow anyone away with his offensive output but he more than makes up for it by being strong in his own end of the rink. Whether or not his skill-set translates at the NHL level remains a bit of a question mark.
Outside of Englund and Chabot, there aren’t really many potential NHLers in the system. Freddy Claesson and Ben Harpur both played some games with the Senators last year but neither look like NHL regulars. Christian Jaros has certainly improved over there last couple seasons but it’s still not clear that he has NHL potential. And that’s pretty much it.
Which is why Englund’s development is so important for the organization.
This coming season, Englund will make the transition to North America, suiting up with the team in Binghamton. That transition can be a tough one for European players so it will be interesting to see how Englund fares early in the season.
If Englund can continue developing the way he has since the draft in June 2014, he has a very real shot at suiting up for the Ottawa Senators in the not too distant future.
