When the Ottawa Senators went shopping for NHL free agent forwards over the summer, they made some splashy moves. They acquired David Perron, Michael Amadio, Noah Gregor, and Nick Cousins. Three of the four had recently won Stanley Cups and all of those players rightly received one-way NHL contracts, basically being guaranteed spots on the roster.
But so far, they’ve all been badly outscored by Adam Gaudette, who was signed to a one-year, two-way contract. The contract carries a value of just $775,000 in the National Hockey League and $450,000 in the American Hockey League. Gaudette was available to any NHL team at the end of camp, clearing waivers, and then made the team as the club’s 12th forward.
He certainly hasn’t played like a minimum-wage fourth-liner. After leading the American Hockey League in goal scoring, something clicked for Gaudette last season. And even with his limited minutes, he’s carried that goal-scoring prowess into Ottawa this fall. In fact, according to statmuse.com, Gaudette leads all NHL players in goals per 60 minutes (among players who’ve played at least five games).
On Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, Gaudette kept on rolling, scoring his seventh goal of the season, a power-play beauty that should have put the game away. But let’s not relive that.
Gaudette is now tied with Tim Stützle, Drake Batherson, and Josh Norris for second in team goal scoring, behind only Brady Tkachuk (9). You can almost visualize the “one of these things is not like the others” TSN graphic. All three of the other players get top linemates and top minutes, though Gaudette is seeing time on the second-unit power play.
This begs the question: If the 2018 Hobey Baker winner is good enough to be on the second-unit power play, and he can’t stop scoring, what’s he still doing on the fourth line? Even if this is nothing more than a hot streak, it might be wise for the Senators to support it and milk it until it dries up.
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