- Ottawa handed the C to its longest-tenured player four days before opening night
- Chabot fills the spot left open when Brady Tkachuk was traded to Florida in June
- Read below for Chabot’s reaction and the video of the locker room moment
Thomas Chabot is the new captain of the Ottawa Senators.
The team made it official Tuesday, giving the 29-year-old defenseman the C four days before the season opener. He becomes the 11th captain in franchise history and replaces Brady Tkachuk, who wore it for five seasons before Ottawa traded him to the Florida Panthers on June 21.
Chabot was asked about getting the news, and he had a hard time finding the words.
“Big surprise, huge honor,” Chabot said. “I don’t have many words, which is rare for me. It’s a big honor. I’m kind of shaking right now. But it’s going to be a fun year. We have a hell of a group of guys and I feel like we’re obviously really tight and I think we can go a long way this year.”
GM Steve Staios broke the news in the locker room with Chabot’s wife and their newborn there to see it. The couple welcomed their first child over the weekend. Watch the moment:
Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson will serve as alternates. All three wore an A alongside Chabot last season.
Nobody should be shocked by the pick. Chabot was one of three names in the running back in August, and he’s been an alternate since 2020-21.
Staios talked about why the timing felt right for a player who has lived through Ottawa’s lean years.
“He’s been here for a decade, and he’s seen a lot and some ups and downs,” Staios told reporters. “Just the timing for him, I think, is interesting because we are on a good trajectory as a team. And I think part of leadership is experience and being through tough times and dealing with that adversity and learning from that.”
Head coach Travis Green explained why the club took its time with the decision.
“I think it’s just not rushing into anything,” Green said. “I think when you make a decision as big as this, that if you have time, take it. … You want a captain that can communicate with your players and coaching staff as well, and help guide players along in any way he can. And I think he’ll be able to check all the boxes.”
Ottawa drafted Chabot 18th overall in 2015, and he has never suited up for another NHL team. He has 335 points (78 goals, 257 assists) in 569 regular-season games. He’s also just the fourth defenseman to captain the Senators, joining Erik Karlsson, Brad Shaw and Gord Dineen.
Last season he put up 31 points in 57 games while averaging 22:35 a night. In the playoffs, he led everyone in ice time at 31:07 per game during Ottawa’s first-round sweep at the hands of Carolina.
We marked the news with a Chabot graphic, the C stitched on his black home sweater:
That leaves three NHL teams without a captain: Columbus, Detroit and Vancouver.
Saturday brings his first game with the C, as the Senators open their season against the Maple Leafs in Toronto at 7 p.m. ET.
