Senators' Jaxon Cover piles up seven points at Prospect Challenge

The last pick of the first round did not need long to get Ottawa's attention.

Over the weekend's two games at the Prospect Challenge in Gatineau, Quebec, Jaxon Cover scored three goals and added four assists. He had two goals and two assists on Sunday night, when Ottawa's prospects lost 5-4 in a shootout to Montreal's. The Senators took the London Knights forward 32nd overall at this year's draft.

"Going into this, I wasn't really thinking about points," Cover said. "Just trying to play my game and keep it simple. The puck kept finding my stick and was just trying to capitalize on my chances and show I can score goals."

Ottawa moved him to centre for Sunday's game after playing him at his usual right wing on Saturday.

"He was impressive again. He's obviously pretty dynamic, as we saw the last two games," Belleville Senators coach Andrew Campbell said. "He's so smart, so he doesn't put himself in compromising positions. He knows where he is on the ice. He makes his way around, he's elusive, he's shifty, he's fast. He doesn't get hit all that often."

The pick itself has a history. Ottawa was docked a first-rounder over the botched Evgenii Dadonov trade, with the ruling handed down Nov. 1, 2023, stating the Senators would forfeit a first in 2024, 2025 or 2026. That same day, owner Michael Andlauer fired general manager Pierre Dorion and named Steve Staios as interim general manager. The penalty was later changed so that Ottawa received the 32nd selection this year, which it used on Cover.

His path is unusual. Cover, 18, was raised in the Cayman Islands and grew up playing roller hockey before moving to Canada with his family when he was 12. Last season he had 20 goals and 52 points in 67 games for London.