Takeaways from the second-annual Belleville Senators Town Hall
- Zach McGibbon
- Aug 18
- 7 min read
The Belleville Senators held their second annual town hall for season-seat members at Galaxy Cinemas in Belleville.
Season ticket holders for the upcoming 2026-27 season had the chance to speak with members of the Belleville Senators organization and ask questions ranging from the team roster and off-season acquisitions to arena accommodations and gameday experience.
Here are some of the takeaways from the town hall from an on-ice perspective.
Depth scoring focus of off-season acquisitions in Belleville
The main message from the B-Sens organization is that they needed more scoring from more of its forward lines.
Head Coach Andrew Campbell, entering his first full season as coach after serving as interim head coach during the 2025/26 season, said they got a lot out of one line but needed more firepower beyond it.
"You need more than one line that can score to win, so we ran into that a little bit last year where we were really dependent on that (Xavier) Borgeault, (Phillipe) Daoust, (Arthur) Kaliyev line, and they did a great job for us. But we need more scoring past that." Campbell told OSN after the town hall.
Kaliyev led the entire AHL with 40 goals in his 2025/26 season, adding 28 assists.
Borgeault finished second in points on the team with 57 points (25 goals, 32 assists).
Leading the team in assists was Phillipe Daoust, who tallied a total of 36 assists, while adding 14 goals for a 50-point season.
While Borgeault and Daoust return to the organization this upcoming season, the team's leading goal scorer will not.
Arthur Kaliyev remains an unrestricted free agent as of this writing.
Manager of Hockey Operations, Sean McCauley, was asked why Kaliyev would not be returning to the B-Sens.
"What he's looking for, what we're looking for, just may not have lined up," McCauley tells OSN.
"We added players that are going to be able to fill roles at both levels. We added players who are very versatile and have different tools in their bag. Arthur's a great player, no doubt. But we think with the prospects that we had coming up, with players that we acquired from other teams, you know, we think we have that kind of goal scoring covered right now, and we were able to add other pieces to that as well within our goal scorers, right?"
McCauley noted there were no hard feelings with Kaliyev and that the team was fans of him, but ultimately it was about adding roster versatility.
In the offseason, the team signed forwards Sammy Blais, Ryan Suzuki, and Phillip Tomassino.
Blais, 30, was part of the 2019 Stanley Cup-winning St. Louis Blues squad and has recorded 79 points in 278 regular-season games in the NHL between the Blues, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadiens.
He is signed to a two-year, two-way contract with the organization.
The 25-year-old Suzuki spent the past season with the Chicago Wolves AHL squad, tallying a total of 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists) in 66 games in the 2025-26 season.
Meanwhile, Tomassino, 24, has played 218 NHL games, tallying 34 goals and 61 assists in his NHL career between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"When we go out, and we target guys like that, you know, we're saying what holes can they fill? Where can they fill in the roster?" McCauley told the crowd during the town hall.
"These are top-end players, and they have a chance to make the Ottawa Senators as well. You know, when they're in Belleville, they're going to be impact guys, and they're going to be leaders."
The team also signed defenceman Christian Kyrou, whom McCauley said is an offensive defenceman who can provide a scoring touch from the back end.
Kyrou, 22, joins the team after a 10-goal, 24-assist campaign with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Campbell said he is looking forward to having these acquisitions on the roster and getting more offense going.
"So management's done a great job of bringing in some veteran bodies, and you know some internal players that we had here last year, we expect to take big strides as well. So you know, we expect more goals from within the players that are returning, and then obviously the players that were brought in, they're here for a reason, and a lot of them are to create some offense."
Organization still very committed to Leevi Meriläinen
To say it was a rough go for Leevi Meriläinen in the NHL would be an understatement.
Meriläinen finished his 2025-26 NHL campaign with an 8-10-1 record, a 3.51 goals-against average (GAA) and an .860 save percentage.
He had a much better showing in the AHL, posting an 8-8-1 record with a 2.77 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
Still, the organization remains committed to Meriläinen's development, hoping to see him blossom into a full-time NHL goaltender.
During the town hall, head coach Andrew Campbell responded to a question about players the team is watching for their development.
"Goaltenders obviously take time to develop. If you look at the age of a lot of starting goalies, they haven't really hit their peak until their late 20s, and I still firmly believe that Leevi has a very bright future," Campbell said in response to the question.
"We expect him, if he's here, to come in and be one of the better goalies in the league, and I think he has a tremendous opportunity to be an NHL goalie for a long time."
Campbell expanded on his thoughts about Merilainen to OSN.
"Last year was a tough year for Leevi, right? To start in Ottawa, and obviously it didn't go the way he had hoped, and then he ended up back down here with us, and that was the season," Campbell tells OSN.
"I'm sure he's having a great summer, and he's going to come in and compete for a job in Ottawa, obviously, and if he stays in Ottawa, that's awesome for Leevi, and if he ends up back here in Belleville, it's going to be a lot of games, a lot of minutes for him, a lot of shots. So it's fantastic for his development, and he still has a very bright future as an NHL goaltender."
Noted prospects that the team is keeping an eye on
Like with any AHL team, the upcoming season provides a chance to look at potential players that could join the NHL ranks.
During the town hall, one player that was highlighted was forward Kasper Halttunen, who was part of the trade that sent the 9th overall selection in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft to the San Jose Sharks.
Ottawa received William Ekblad and Brandon Svoboda, as well as Halttunen, in that deal.
"This kid's a goal scorer," McCauley told the crowd during the town hall.
"He's got a lot of potential here to grow and put a lot of pucks in the net here in Belleville. So I think he's one that we're looking at pretty good."
Following the town hall, McCauley was asked about the timeline for Halttunen's development.
"I think it changes for every player. You know, this player's coming in. He's just had a major move in his life, so I think you have to allow him to show what he is," McCauley tells OSN.
You know, we have high expectations, and we feel very strongly about this player. We're really happy we were able to get him. Steve (Staios) did a hell of a job landing that player in the trade. So, you know, I don't think it's fair to put any kind of timeline on any player."
McCauley noted that it's now up to the Belleville Senators organization to develop him further.
Halttunen is coming off a campaign with the San Jose Barracuda where he scored 16 goals and 19 assists in 66 games in his first full season in the AHL.
Other players that were mentioned to keep an eye on for the upcoming season in Belleville included forward Blake Montgomery and defenceman Hoyt Stanley.
"These are two kids that are coming up that we have a lot of expectations on and hope for," McCauley said at the town hall.
"I think they both showed well in their short stint after their college careers at the end of last season, and I think we were all pretty impressed with them. In certain aspects, they impressed us more than we thought they would at this stage of their lives. So you know, I think those two are players that we're looking at."
Both Montgomery and Stanley joined the Belleville Senators organization in the latter part of the 2025/26 season after wrapping up their careers in NCAA hockey.
Montgomery, the Ottawa Senators' 4th-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, finished a season with the University of Wisconsin, tallying 9 goals and 8 assists in 38 games played in his college campaign.
His season also wrapped with an appearance in the National Championship.
In the meantime, Stanley finished his three-year stint with Cornell University with three goals and 12 assists in his 2025/26 season.
Stanley was also named a finalist for the 2025–26 ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman award.
Other team/business notes
The organization revealed 10th-anniversary jerseys designed much like the Ottawa Senators' third jerseys, but with Bay of Quinte insignia.
A mini-documentary series is being produced highlighting the team's 10 years in the Bay of Quinte, which will be released on YouTube.
The upcoming season will include more Friday night games, based on fan feedback.
The team will also be addressing audio/speaker issues during hockey games. They say they will work with the City of Belleville to address it by the home opener.
More giveaways are planned for the season.
McCauley told OSN that this year's team is built on skill and speed, youth, a high level of compete, and a strong work ethic.
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