Ottawa Senators prospect Hoyt Stanley is not expected to break camp with the big club for the 2026-27 season, but the defenceman has surrounded himself with the right people to get him there.
The 21-year-old West Vancouver, B.C. native does much of his off-season work at home, skating with several NHLers, including a pair of hometown stars in Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard.
“I’m pretty lucky to have a good group there. I’m on the ice lots with guys like Macklin Celebrini, Bedard, and Kent Johnson. Even Gavin McKenna came out for a couple of weeks,” Stanley said on TSN Radio. “It’s nice to compete against those guys and kind of see where you stack up.
“It’s challenging, but I wouldn’t want any other way. I think playing against guys like that and learning how to defend against those guys helps you improve your game too.”
Stanley was drafted in the fourth round (108th overall) by the Senators in the 2023 NHL Draft and spent three years at the University of Cornell before making the jump to the American Hockey League for a six-game cup of coffee at the end of last season. In his final NCAA season, the 6-foot-3 blueliner scored three goals and 15 points in 34 games and was named a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenceman award.
He played six games with the Belleville Senators after his collegiate season ended and recorded one goal.
Stanley is now in Ottawa preparing for Senators’ training camp with hopes of establishing himself as part of the future defensive corps and will continue to work on his game in Belleville this season.
“I think playing against grown men now, you’re always going to have to be getting stronger and faster – even though I think those are attributes of mine, but just to keep improving on those and keeping them at a high level,” Stanley said of what he needs to work on to eventually make the NHL. “I think something I can work on too is just my offensive confidence/positioning. I think I still have a little more offence that I can add to my game at the next level too.”
Stanley posted 38 points in 53 games with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies prior to his NCAA career but shifted his game to focus on the defensive side at Cornell and compares his game to Colorado Avalanche blueliner Josh Manson as a big, defence-first right-hander.
Stanley already took part in Sens’ development camp earlier this summer and hopes to make more positive impressions at training camp in September.
Ottawa has five preseason games scheduled during camp, including two home games at the Canadian Tire Centre, two away games in Montreal and Toronto, and another against the Canadiens at the Vidéotron Colisée in Trois-Rivières.
