Few could have projected the season that Blake Montgomery put together in 2024-25. A unknown high school student on the 2023 design, he was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round in 2024 and reached the new season. He scored 10 points in 10 games to kick the season with the Lincoln Stars in the United States Hockey League (USHL). When he left to join the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), he set an amazing 23 goals and 50 points in 51 games. He became the name of the OHL’s player of the week in December And was a fixed value in the play function of the competition. In the Play -Offs he scored another 10 points in 17 games and the Knights helped not only secure another OHL championship, but also a memorial cup.
The outbreak of Montgomery was the icing on top of a surprisingly good season for the prospects of the senators. After years of selling prospects and buying low in the design, Ottawa was again prioritizing his farm system, and it almost immediately paid off. So, who will follow Montgomery’s shoes as the next big breakout star? Here there are three to pay attention to the 2025-26 season.
Carter Yakemchuk
Although it is a bit of an obvious choice, Carter Yakemchuk is ready to make an impact in his pro debut this season. He is uniquely focused after he has been sent home from the camp of the senators and then received no invitation for the Canada World Junior Team. “My goal is to make the opening schedule,” Yakemchuk said the following development camp. “That’s what I want to do.”
Last season, according to Yakemchuk, his first major adversity was in his hockey career. But instead of sulking, he decided to learn and use it Work for his ultimate goal. “At the end of the day my goal is to play in the NHL,” he said, “and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get there. It was an eye-opener.” That mentality took him a step back from his impressive 30 goal, 70-point design season, up to only 17 goals and 49 points in 2024-25, but he showed the senators exactly what they were looking for in his development.
Senators Amateur Scout Andrew Gordon was specifically looking for the defensive skills of Yakemchuk. “Many of the areas we wanted the game of Yakemchuk to evolve, it doesn’t appear on the score sheet,” he said. “When the puck is up (his) stick, there is no doubt what he can do, and I think that will always be a power, so we tried to strengthen the other areas of his game and make sure that he is able to compete in the corners, defensively, of hurry, his feet and just gap control, things like that is a year ago.
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Is it enough to secure a schedule place in October? The performance of last year’s prescription had many arguments that he should have been in the team in 2024-25, at least for a seven-game test, and with another growth panel under his belt he will be difficult to reverse. Nick Jensen’s injury could open a place for him on the bottom pair, but he has to pass Nikolas Matinpalo, who was surprisingly solid during the first round matchup of the senators against the Toronto Maple Leafs. There is also newcomer Jordan Spence and returner Lassi Thomson, who further hides the right side and pushing Yakemchuk to the minors. Yet he will be one to watch with the Belleville Senators, because he has shown that he is willing to work to make his ultimate dream come true.
Stephen Halliday
Although it is no surprise that Yakemchuk will be one to watch in 2025-26, few could have seen the rise of Stephen Halliday as one of the best prospects of Ottawa. Selected 104th General in 2022, Halliday was dominant in the state of Ohio, the team in points as a first-year student and a second-year student before signing a pro-contract with the senators at the end of the NCAA season of 2023-24. He placed five points in his first 10 Pro matches in Belleville and then led the team with nine points in Seven Play -off matches to close the season of the American Hockey League (AHL). Last season he improved his impressive debut with a team of leading 51 points in 71 games, the 11th highest point total of a U23 player in the competition.
Halliday has already proven that he is in the abyss to make the senators. The head coach of Belleville already believes The 23-year-old can play in the NHLAnd although he did not play in NHL games, he learned a lot from practicing a few times with Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux from Ottawa. But Halliday believes that he can bring his game to new levels next season. “I think I want more when making progress,” he said in His exit interview with Belleville. “Get a little faster and play with pace. I absolutely want to get a lot stronger this summer. In the last summers I have done a lot of work on the ice and skate, but I think it will be stronger to help me win a lot more fighting in the Ahl. And Faceoffs, I think I am much better in the last 15 games, and I wanted to work with Sam Ganger.
Halliday has improved every season and 2025-26 will be no different. There is no doubt that he will appear with the senators in at least a few NHL games; It is just a debate about how high the Pick of 2022 will climb fourth round.
Blake Vanek
If someone can follow the path of Montgomery as the most surprising breakout star, it is Blake Vanek. He spent most of last season at Stillwater High School, where he had 22 goals and 53 points in 29 games and his team helped reach the AA State Championship game class. He then made his USHL debut with the Chicago Steel, where he scored four goals in just nine games as a 17-year-old. Now he is on his way to the Wenatchee Wild from the Western Hockey League (WHL), who has acquired his rights of the Vancouver Giants before signing him for a standard player agreement. In the official releaseWild Director of Scouting Leigh Mendelson said: “(Vanek) was a player we wanted in our organization because of his congenital athletics, Game -Sense and the ability to produce offensively. We think he will flourish under coach (Don) Nachbaur and his staff while he completes his game and becomes a more complete player.”
Vanek helps to refine his game, his father, Thomas Vanek, is a veteran of more than 1,000 NHL games and almost 800 points. “We talk a ton,” he said during the Development camp of senators. “It is clear that he has played a long career, so he always leads me through the path he has taken and just gives me tips along the way.” The two also play similar styles, which is no coincidence, because the older Vanek was an important mentor in Blake’s development of a “dealing in the front mentality, pucks … I took that from him.”
There are also some similarities between Vanek and Montgomery, because the former Knight was also a high school star in his concept year, but was passed on to 2024. Both players use their size, speed and mobility to create openings for a strong shot. Just like the OHL, the WHL is a great place for a player who already has those elements in his game, especially because the competition is a younger demography after the NCAA rule change. Although Wenatchee is not nearly as strong a program as London, Vanek promises to be a player in 2025-26 to keep an eye on.
Senators have a lot of outbreak potential
After Michael Andlaer had taken over the senators, there is a much stronger dedication to development within the organization. Making the play-offs has remained the primary goal, but not at the expense of a well-rounded farm system. This has led the team to have much better draw classes with a lot of breakout potential, and the AHL team has a better approach to prepare players for the NHL instead of keeping veterans for final NHL call-ups. Just look at Halliday, who was called several times last season but did not see NHL promotion. Instead, he only practiced with the senators and showed what is needed to come to the next level. That means that more players get opportunities to play NHL games, not because they are high-profile goals, but because they are really ready for the big show. So, who will be the next Breakout star? We just have to wait.
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