Adam Gaudette has quietly been one of the best stories of the Ottawa Senators’ season – a tale of a player struggling to get back to the NHL, joining forces with a team struggling to get back to the NHL playoffs.
And the story already has a happy ending, no matter what happens next in the Battle of Ontario.
Gaudette had been all but out of the league for the past two years, but found a perfect fit in Ottawa, where he last held full-time NHL work in 2022. The Senators had just hired Travis Green, his former coach from the Vancouver Canucks, where Gaudette had played some of his best hockey.
With a familiar coach he trusted and a team that had just overhauled its bottom-six forwards, Gaud's Plan to sign in Ottawa made perfect sense. Sure, it was a two-way deal, but if he was ever going to make it back to the NHL, this was as good a path as any.
Scouts around the league were intrigued by Gaudette’s 44-goal performance with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season, which led the entire AHL. No one expected that output to carry over directly to the NHL, but the Senators were in the market for more offense from their bottom six. They were in the process of turning the page on players like Parker Kelly, Mark Kastelic, Dominik Kubalik, Boris Katchouk, Rourke Chartier, and Jiri Smejkal.
The Senators believed (hoped) Gaudette could boost their secondary scoring, but could he also be trusted to play the kind of responsible defence expected of a bottom-six forward, the lack of which had kept him out of the NHL for two years?
So far, the answer has been: absolutely.
In fact, in Game 5 in Toronto, as the Senators fought to keep their season alive, Gaudette made an excellent defensive play and immediately followed it up with a strong offensive effort, setting up one of the biggest goals of the season. It was a perfect ten-second window into everything Gaudette has brought to Ottawa this year.
With the Senators leading 1–0 in the third period and killing a penalty, Gaudette intercepted an Auston Matthews centering pass in the defensive zone and burst up ice on a two-on-one with Dylan Cozens.
Now, it’s easy to picture a fourth-liner from the Senators’ recent past making that sort of defensive play and getting that chance, but too often, those players lacked the skill or poise to capitalize.
But not Gaudette. That's exactly what he brings to the table.
The 2018 Hobey Baker winner waited for Cozens to catch up, then delivered a perfect pass for a crucial shorthanded goal that drained all the Toronto energy out of the rink, which was nearly empty by game's end.
Despite not getting the big minutes (or money) some of his teammates do, Gaudette played 81 games and finished sixth on the team in goals with 19, both career highs. He’s also tied for fourth in team playoff scoring, with three points in five games.
He’s delivered exactly the kind of secondary scoring Ottawa needed from its bottom six—and his defensive commitment was also on full display in Tuesday night’s elimination game. With a one-goal lead in the third period against one of the NHL’s best power plays, his coach trusted him to be on the ice.
"I think there's obviously been a bit of learning experience and growing pains and stuff throughout my career and figuring out where I kind of fit in," Gaudette told the media. "I think here, under Greener, and with this team, we kind of found the way I'll have success in contributing on the score sheet or in other ways on a good playoff hockey team.
"And doing that, I think it gives me more confidence in going out there playing my game, being physical and playing a heavier game. And a game that I didn't really play back when I was younger. I wasn't as big, I wasn't as strong and I wasn't playing as physical. And now in the series and throughout this year, I just have the confidence to play that way."
Brady Tkachuk On Thursday's Game 6 Atmosphere in Ottawa: 'I Expect Pure Insanity'In the moments after being announced as one of the game's three stars on Saturday night in Ottawa, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk gestured to centre ice, telling fans the team would be coming back for Game 6.
Two years ago, the Leafs didn't see it.
Gaudette didn't play a single minute with Toronto, where he toiled in the minors with the Marlies, scoring 20 goals and 34 points in 40 games. The organization dealt him to St. Louis near the 2023 deadline, and the Blues didn't really use him either and eventually let him walk as a free agent.
Green has had a bird's eye view of Gaudette's career and he's thrilled to see the growth since 2017–18, when they both debuted with the Vancouver Canucks.
"He's had a fantastic season," Green said. "I think maturity is a big part of why he's in the NHL again. Players, when they first come in – compared to years, four or five, six – it's a big difference. We talked about that the other day. And I think he's just really learned the game itself, the important areas of the game. And he's applying it."
Much of the media dialogue on Wednesday centred on the Senators' improved diamond setup on the penalty kill — something Gaudette was a key part of in Game 5. Somewhere between now and July 1, Steve Staios would be wise to make sure this diamond in the rough is taken care of.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
Ullmark Steps Up In Game 5 As Ottawa Senators Stave Off Elimination AgainAfter a Game 4 overtime victory on Saturday night, Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk skated off the ice, confidently yelling at the fans, "We'll be back!"
