HIGHLIGHTS
- Thomas Chabot is in the Ottawa Senators lineup Thursday night, just 17 days after suffering a broken arm and undergoing surgery
- The original timeline was 4-8 weeks, which would have ended his regular season and potentially his playoffs
- Full details on the recovery, the Senators’ wild-card race, and what Chabot’s return means below
Seventeen days after breaking his arm, Thomas Chabot is playing tonight.
The Ottawa Senators announced Thursday that Chabot is in the lineup, returning well ahead of the 4-8 week timeline that was given after he fractured his right forearm on March 23 and had surgery two days later.
Hockey players are built differently. The outer edge of the 4-8 week window would have had Chabot back in mid-May. He made it back in 17 days.
Coach Travis Green had hinted at it earlier in the week. “It’s definitely going to be sooner, whenever it is,” he told reporters after Tuesday’s morning skate. “He’s one of the toughest players I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”
This is the play that caused it — a cross-check from JT Miller on March 23 that went uncalled:
Chabot had been skating in a non-contact jersey at practice. Clearing him to play Thursday means the forearm is well enough to take a hit. With this team this close to a playoff spot, there was never going to be a scenario where Chabot sat out longer than he had to.
Ottawa enters Thursday holding the second wild-card spot in the East with 92 points. They sit two points ahead of Columbus and three clear of both Detroit and the Islanders, with four games left. Jake Sanderson returned from his own injury a few games ago, and now Chabot comes back too. The Senators’ two best defensemen, available at the same time, with a playoff berth on the line.
The Senators have gone 10-11-1 without Chabot in the lineup this season. He averages 22:34 and typically draws the other team’s top players. Having him back changes the structure of the entire defense corps.
Ottawa has won 11 games since March 1, one of the better records in the league over that stretch. They have been inconsistent, but they have also been shorthanded almost the entire time. If this team gets into the playoffs healthy, they are going to be a handful.
