Like their parent club, the Belleville Senators have struggled to put the puck in the net. The team sits 30th in goals scored, and although they have the most games remaining of any club in the American Hockey League (AHL), they are still averaging the 10th-lowest scoring rate with 2.86 goals per game. It hasn’t helped that their best scorers have been called up to the Ottawa Senators recently as injury replacements, but that led to breakout star Cole Reinhardt landing on the injured list himself.
Thankfully, last week, Angus Crookshank stepped up. After going 12 games with just three goals, since Jan. 12, he hasn’t been left off of Belleville’s scoresheet, and last week, he put together a five-point weekend to lead all B-Sens in points and nabbed the game’s second star on Jan. 25. With his dominant return to form, he’s your Senators’ Prospect of the Week from Jan. 20-27.
Crookshank Takes the Scoring Lead
It’s been a tough season for the former 26-goal scorer. After emerging as one of the Senators’ best prospects in 2022-23 and following it up with 24 goals and 46 points in just 50 games, he took a step back this season. By the holiday break in December, he had just 15 points in 24 games, a far cry from his previous pace, and from Dec. 7 to Jan. 10, he scored just three goals, two of which came in a single game. Before long, Stephen Halliday took over as point leader in mid-December while Wyatt Bongiovanni began to challenge Crookshank for the scoring lead despite playing 10 fewer games. Suddenly, Crookshank was no longer the go-to guy in Belleville.
But the former point leader was the most impactful player in Belleville last weekend. On Jan. 24, the Senators hosted the Hershey Bears, welcoming the Washington Capitals’ affiliate after losing to them 4-1 on the road the previous game. The game got off to a bad start for the Senators with Hershey scoring the first two goals, but Belleville clawed back, and by the end of the first period, they were only down 3-2.
Related: 3 Trade Targets to Fix the Senators’ Struggling Offence
Then, on a delay-of-game power play, Crookshank fired home the game-tying goal on a beautiful feed from Halliday and Sam Gagner. The game remained tied when the final buzzer sounded, pushing the two teams into overtime. Once again, Halliday connected with Crookshank to score, giving Belleville the win. This time, though, the roles were reversed and Crookshank collected an assist, giving him a team-leading two points on the night.
Gagner ➡️ Hally ➡️ Crooker 🚨 https://t.co/AJZlCkCLXu pic.twitter.com/9TYm308FNy
— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) January 25, 2025
The next night, Hershey was back and they hit the ice at the CAA Arena with a vengeance. After Bongiovanni’s opening goal, the Bears surged to a 5-3 win, always staying just ahead of the Senators. But on every goal Belleville scored, Crookshank was right there, collecting secondary assists on the first two goals and the primary helper on the third. “He was a Cy Young candidate there for a while with the goals and assists,” said head coach Dave Bell after the frustrating loss. “But he’s rounding out his game so it’s good to see.”
With Ottawa still dealing with several injuries, the NHL’s management group will take note of Crookshank’s development. The team’s top forwards are starting to find their scoring touch again – both Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk broke pointless streaks over the last few days – but the bottom of the lineup is still in some disarray. Should the Senators need an offensive boost, Crookshank could return to the NHL for the first time this season after playing 13 games in 2023-24. He certainly deserves a second look after last week.
Senators Honourable Mentions & Check-Ins
Vladimir Nikitin is back in British Columbia after the World Junior Championship, joining the British Columbia Hockey League’s (BCHL) Nanaimo Clippers after playing 25 games with the Chilliwack Chiefs last season before returning to his native Kazakhstan. However, after just 12 appearances in Russia’s MHL, he decided to return to Canada. In his first start with the Clippers, he faced 25 shots and turned away 23 for the overtime win. Although he doesn’t always have the greatest numbers, the 6-foot-4 Kazakh is a great high-volume goaltender and shone for the struggling Kazakhs at the 2025 World Juniors in Ottawa.
Vladimir Nikitin was dynamic in goal during a wild OT in Powell River for @ClippersHockey – his goaltending set up a massive chance for Dylan Kinch. #OTMoments pic.twitter.com/VdLv0f00pb
— danmarshall77 (@danmarshall77) January 26, 2025
Last week’s Prospect of the Week, Nikolas Matinpalo, didn’t have quite as strong of a follow-up to his strong debut. The Finnish defender is still looking for his first NHL point while dipping to 2.2 goals against per 60 minutes compared to his previous 1.6 average. However, his ice time is steadily increasing, showing that the team trusts him to play tougher minutes despite his inexperience.
Blake Montgomery remained the most dangerous Senators’ prospect with the puck, scoring another two goals and adding four points to his already impressive total with the London Knights. He now has 19 goals and 38 points in 29 games. Only Easton Cowan, Denver Barkey, and Sam Dickinson have put up points at a higher pace with the Knights this season, but no one has scored more goals in a shorter period. There’s a bright future for Montgomery in Ottawa if he can keep this up.
Tune in next week to see which prospect stands above the rest.
