Canadiens, Senators swap prospects ahead of AHL Trade Deadline
The NHL trade deadline may have come and gone, but we still have the frenzy of the AHL trade deadline.
On Friday, just ahead of the AHL deadline, the Ottawa Senators acquired forward Riley Kidney from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for goaltender Hunter Shepard and forward Jake Chiasson.
The Canadiens acquire goaltender Hunter Shepard and forward Jake Chiasson from the Ottawa Senators in return for forward Riley Kidney. News release ↓ #GoHabsGo nhl.com/canadiens/news…
Kidney, 22, was selected by Montreal in the second round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He has spent the bulk of this season playing for the Canadiens’ ECHL affiliate Trois-Rivieres Lions, where he put up 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points in 46 games. In six games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket this season, he had no goals and one assist. In 56 games for Laval last season, the Enfield, Nova Scotia native managed four goals and 12 assists for 16 points.
Shepard, 30, put up a 6-7-2 record with a .885 save percentage and a 3.65 goals-against average in 15 appearances with the AHL’s Belleville Senators this season. He also made one NHL relief appearance for Ottawa this season, allowing two goals on 12 shots in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on January 5th. The Cohasset, Minnesota native has six total NHL appearances under his belt, including five starts with the Washington Capitals, in which he has a 2-3-1 record with a .863 SV% and a 3.88 GAA. Shepard, who went undrafted, has also won two Calder Cups as an AHL champion with the Hershey Bears.
Chiasson, 22, was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Ottawa acquired him, along with forward Xavier Bourgault, in July of 2024 for forward Roby Jarventie and a fourth-round pick. The Abbotsford, B.C. native has just one assist and no goals in 20 games for Belleville this season, and two goals and six assists for eight points in 14 games for the ECHL’s Allen Americans.