The Ottawa Senators have signed defenceman Jonathan Aspirot to a 3 year NHL entry level contract.
The 20 year old Aspirot played his first professional season with the Belleville Senators and was one of the biggest surprises of the year.
Undrafted, Aspirot originally signed a two-year, two-way AHL contract with Belleville ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.
It was expected he would start the season with the ECHL’s Brampton Beast however he made an immediate impact at Belleville’s training camp and never looked back.
Aspirot scored two goals and 14 assists in 44 games with 39 penalty minutes and a plus-14 rating.
Head coach Troy Mann used Aspirot in all situations including the penalty kill.
Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion says
“Jonathan is a player, with credit to our amateur scouting staff, that we’ve kept tabs on since he was a development camp invitee in 2018. He’s long demonstrated great hockey sense and exceptional determination to the point where he became a regular among Belleville’s defence corps last season. His progression has collectively indicated to our hockey staff that he has become a legitimate NHL prospect.”Aspirot spent his spent his entire major junior career with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Moncton Wildcats.
“Jonathan is a player, with credit to our amateur scouting staff, that we’ve kept tabs on since he was a development camp invitee in 2018. He’s long demonstrated great hockey sense and exceptional determination to the point where he became a regular among Belleville’s defence corps last season. His progression has collectively indicated to our hockey staff that he has become a legitimate NHL prospect.”Aspirot spent his spent his entire major junior career with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Moncton Wildcats.
He was invited to the Senators’ annual development camp following both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
