The Ottawa Senators have a long list of “The Ones That Got Away” and Nick Paul can be comfortably included in that group. Paul was the player who was slowly starting to make Sens fans feel a little better about the weak return on the Jason Spezza deal from a decade ago.
Staring at free agency two years ago, Paul wanted to put roots down here, but Sens GM Pierre Dorion opted to trade him to Tampa Bay for Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-rounder. More on that fourth rounder in a moment.
Joseph is a decent bottom-six guy with speed, but Paul is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound two-way forward with 11 points in his first 12 NHL games this season. While “Nicky Paul does it all” for Tampa, Joseph isn’t even here anymore, traded to St. Louis over the summer with a third-rounder sweetener – a little somethin-somethin’ to entice the Blues to take on his cap space.
That’s some rough asset management.
But there’s still one little branch poking through the bark of Ottawa’s otherwise dead Spezza/Paul trade tree. And that’s Blake Montgomery, that previously mentioned fourth-rounder from the Tampa deal.
Like Paul, Montgomery is a fast-skating, 6-foot-4 forward rolling along at a point per game this season. But he’s still a kid, growing into his frame, and his point-a-game pace (10 in 10) is happening with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL.
At least it was.
Montgomery was a healthy scratch for two games on the weekend and now we know why. According to former Sportsnet reporter Jeff Marek, has reportedly left the Stars to play for Dale Hunter and the OHL’s London Knights.
Ottawa Senators prospect Blake Montgomery has left USHL Lincoln Stars to join the London Knights of the OHL. The Maryland-born forward is committed to Wisconsin.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) November 3, 2024
The Knights are famous for being an NHL prospect factory and a highly successful OHL franchise, taking 12 of the last 20 OHL Midwest Division titles. But Lincoln is no slouch either, off to a 9-3-1 start to their USHL season.
Montgomery bid farewell to Lincoln on his Instagram this week, with a photo and the caption, “Thank You, Lincoln.”
The 19-year-old didn’t attend the NHL Draft in Vegas this summer, opting instead for a family draft day party in Bermuda, but he attended Sens development camp the week after. The Senators even recreated the draft for him with the standard ball cap and jersey and the obligatory draft day photo with GM Steve Staios and head amateur scout Don Boyd.
Here’s a view of Montgomery’s game highlights from last year when he had 43 points in 58 games. It’s easy to see why the Sens and Knights both like him. His size, high-end skill and skating are all apparent. Whether that someday translates to the NHL-level (and some degree of salvation from the Paul deal) remains to be seen.
Montgomery is the second 2024 Sens’ draft pick to forego the USHL and collegiate route, a strong hint that the Senators may prefer the OHL as a training ground. Second-rounder Gabriel Elliason did the same in late September, joining the Barrie Colts.
As the Sens excitedly monitor their progress this season, both players are also now in Ontario, a much more convenient location than Lincoln, Nebraska or Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
