23 Year Old First Round Pick To Be Placed On Waivers Tomorrow

The Ottawa Senators are up against the ceiling of the salary cap, so much so that they cannot even sign a top young player coming out of his ELC in Shane Pinto.

The Senators plan to waive Jacob Bernard-Docker, Matthew Highmore, and Egor Sokolov once the ability to do so opens up on October 3. Ottawa has already lost Lassi Thomson earlier this weekend to the Anaheim Ducks, and he was a previous first-round selection as well.

Waived Players

After the game on October 2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Senators announced some more cuts.




Sending Jacob Bernard-Docker down so early is very surprising, as most teams will try and send waiver-eligible players they wish to keep on the last few days before the NHL season starts, as they will hope that player gets lost in the waiver madness.

Jacob Bernard-Docker was selected 28th overall by the Senators in the 2018 NHL Draft. He had not progressed statistically well in the AHL with the Belleville Senators as he scored just 15 points in 99 games. In 32 NHL games, spread over three seasons, he has just two assists.

He was never considered to develop into a big scorer but was projected to be a very solid top-four defenseman. It is quite likely that the Senators will lose the player, but with so many teams up against the salary cap, he may sneak through.

Addition Players to be Waived

Since being drafted at the end of the second round in 2020 at #61, Egor Sokolov has exceeded expectations for Ottawa. Since being drafted, he has played primarily in the AHL, scoring 134 points in 169 games. Sokolov even managed to play in 13 NHL games over the last two seasons, recording his first NHL goal last season.

The Ottawa Senators would prefer that both players pass through waivers, but it is no secret that it would help the team's cap situation if both players were claimed.

AS Read On Blade of Steel - Former top prospect to be placed on waivers at noon tomorrow