One of the feel-good stories of training camp last season was Ottawa Senators centre Adam Gaudette. Gaudette came to Ottawa last summer on a one-year, two-way contract, to battle for one of the final forward positions on the NHL roster. No one ruled him out, but he certainly wasn’t a shoo-in either.
Gaudette already had some previous NHL experience, but his stock was low, and part of the reason he signed in Ottawa was because Travis Green was here. He had played for him when Green was head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, and it felt like he had Green’s trust. That trust probably went a long way toward Gaudette signing here and cracking the lineup. And he played so well in Ottawa last season, he earned a two-year deal with the San Jose Sharks.
Now, a similar story has a chance to play out in Ottawa this fall.
Winger Arthur Kaliyev also signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Senators earlier this summer. Like Gaudette, his stock is low, despite having plenty of NHL experience, and both men came here knowing they could lean on the trust they had built in the past with a key member of the Senators’ hockey operations staff.
Kaliyev played for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL when Senators GM Steve Staios was the Bulldogs’ general manager. On the Coming In Hot podcast this week, Staios spoke about what Kaliyev can bring to the Senators and why the club decided to take a chance on him.
“Well, (I have) a long history with Artie,” Staios said. “He was an exceptional shooter and goal scorer at the junior level. And we still feel like he has qualities that can translate (to the NHL). His game started to develop in LA on the defensive side of things. Obviously, like all players coming out of junior, when you have a knack for scoring and that’s how you help your team, you focus on that.
“I think he’s been able to round out his game on the defensive side with his time in LA and under Todd McLellan. And then, you watch the transition to New York and then injuries last year. And I think it was an opportunity for us to get a player again with some upside and a unique skillset.”
Kaliyev was drafted in 2019 in the second round, and a lot of Senators fans were upset the club took Shane Pinto and not Kaliyev, who went one pick later to LA. History now shows the Sens made a great pick with Pinto, while Kaliyev had a general failure to launch as “King Arthur,” thanks to issues like below-average skating and lack of intensity without the puck.
What no one can argue with is the quality of Kaliyev’s shot – it’s hard, quick, and deadly accurate, even by NHL standards. In Hamilton, under Staios, Kaliyev had an astonishing 95 goals in 124 OHL games over two seasons. He just turned 24 in June, so Staios is hoping he’s identified another familiar buy-low candidate who can help the team, and maybe even grow with it.
And Staios thinks that Kaliyev is more than a shooter.
“His playmaking is a little bit underrated as well,” Staios said. “Like, his shot is so good. So that’s sort of what people would talk about first, but he also has some ability to make plays as well. I think he’s a motivated young man. He wants to play in the National Hockey League and be a regular in the National Hockey League.”
Thanks to his connections with key personnel, Kaliyev will have a longer leash in Ottawa than he would have had anywhere else, just like Adam Gaudette. It’s another chance to see if a skilled player they know and like can turn the NHL corner and become a consistent contributor.
By Steve Warne
This article was first published at THN.com/Ottawa
Read more Sens articles from The Hockey News-Ottawa:
Our One-On-One With Drake Batherson
Staios: ‘We’re Not Dismissing That Carter Yakemchuk Makes Our Team Out of Camp’
Senators’ NHL Dream Began Over Pints in the Dressing Room
Former Ottawa Senator Travis Hamonic Signs With Atlantic Division Rival
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