On the eve of a road trip finale billed simply as senators vs red wings, the visitors gathered their skates, sticks and an unusually thin defensive corps. In a quiet hotel meeting room the day before the trip’s last game, two names kept coming up: Jorian Donovan and Carter Yakemchuk — recalled from Belleville to plug gaps left by injured veterans.
Senators Vs Red Wings: Who will fill the missing spots on defence?
With Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson sidelined, head coach Travis Green suggested that Chabot and Thomson could be “out for a while. ” Management called up Donovan and Yakemchuk as part of an ongoing shuffle: the team has recalled four defensemen from Belleville since the beginning of March. The immediate task is blunt and practical — get through a pivotal game in Detroit with a functioning back end while the club’s depth is tested.
How ready are the recalled players and what do their numbers show?
Carter Yakemchuk arrives having played his 50th American Hockey League game this season. In that time he has scored 10 goals and recorded 26 assists for 36 points, and he has produced 11 points — three goals and eight assists — in his last nine games. At the time of his recall he ranked 10th among the league’s most productive defensemen.
Jorian Donovan is in his second season with Belleville and has set personal bests with four goals and 21 points in 58 games. Donovan won the OHL championship in 2022 and reached the Memorial Cup final with the Hamilton Bulldogs, where Steve Staios served as general manager and president of the team. The recall also carries a family note: Donovan’s father, Shean Donovan, spent the final three seasons of his NHL career with the club, and the pair could become the first father-son duo to play for the team.
Veteran perspective in the room was sober. Pierre LeBrun, speaking as a hockey insider, emphasized the scale of the roster challenge: “Yeah, obviously Thomas Chabot is the big news there. I’m told he’s going to be out longer term. Just devastating. ” He added that the team was missing three of its top four defensemen and that the recall of youngsters opens an opportunity for them to step into meaningful NHL minutes.
What is being done now — and what does management say?
The club has turned to organizational depth. General manager Danny Briere and staff made the call to promote Donovan and Yakemchuk from Belleville. The club is also hoping for a timely return from Jake Sanderson, who is expected back within the next seven or eight days, a development LeBrun identified as potentially “huge” for the team’s playoff push. Meanwhile, Nick Jensen is out following knee surgery and is expected to miss at least the remainder of the regular season.
Those moves reflect a twofold response: short-term survival recalls and a recognition that the team explored the trade market at the deadline. LeBrun noted the team had checked in on available options ahead of the deadline but that deals did not materialize, leaving the club to rely on prospects and recoveries.
For the youngsters, the moment is stark. Yakemchuk, a former first-round pick, and Donovan, a fifth-round selection, now face NHL minutes that will matter in the standings and in their personal development. The coaches and staff will have to balance sheltering young players with entrusting them with responsibility in a game that could influence playoff positioning.
Back in Detroit the next night, the arena lights will throw long shadows across the ice. The recalled defenses will skate out representing more than tactical adjustments: they embody the organization’s depth, a family lineage, and a season’s worth of decisions converging on one game. As the puck drops, the thinness of the blueline will be obvious, but so will the opportunity — for a debut, for a redemption, or for a new chapter in a family story tied to the franchise — all distilled into a single, charged matchup that began with the simple headline senators vs red wings.
