Thomas Chabot (born January 30, 1997) is a Canadian professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
defenceman
Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...
and
alternate captain
In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...
for the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL). Chabot was drafted in the first round (18th overall) by the Senators in the
2015 NHL Entry Draft.
In January 2017, Chabot became the first defenceman to be named the
most valuable player
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
of the
World Junior Championships.
Playing career
Chabot played in the 2009 and 2010
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament
The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...
s with his
minor ice hockey
Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...
team from the Beauce-Nord area. He was drafted by the
Saint John Sea Dogs
The Saint John Sea Dogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team was founded as an expansion team in 2005 and play at TD Station in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Sea Dogs became the first tea ...
in the second round (22nd overall) of the 2013 QMJHL Entry Draft, and he played 55 games with the Sea Dogs during the
2013–14 QMJHL season. The
following season his outstanding play was rewarded when he was selected to play in the 2015
CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game
The CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is an annual event in which forty of the top NHL Entry Draft eligible prospects in the Canadian Hockey League play against each other in an all-star game environment. Players are able to boost their draft ranking w ...
.
Chabot attended the Senators' 2015–16 rookie and main training camps after taking part in
Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...
's National Team Summer Showcase held in Calgary during late-summer, playing in three preseason games with Ottawa.
He was returned to Saint John on September 30, 2015, the same day he signed a three-year entry level contract with Ottawa.
A year later, Chabot attended the Senators' 2016–17 training camp and made the team, making his NHL debut on October 18, 2016 versus the
Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...
. He was later returned to the Sea Dogs for his final major junior season after playing in one game with the Senators. At the conclusion of the
2016–17 season, Chabot earned the Sea Dogs' Top Defenceman Award and the Fans Choice Award.
To start the
2017–18 season, Chabot was sent to Ottawa's AHL affiliate, the
Belleville Senators
The Belleville Senators are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators. Based in Bellevill ...
, where he recorded two goals and five assists in 12 games before being recalled by Ottawa in November. He scored his first NHL goal, along with two assists, in a 6–5 win over the
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
on December 1, 2017. In his first NHL season, he finished with 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points in 63 games, while averaging less than 18 minutes of ice-time per game.
Chabot had a breakout season in
2018–19, finishing with 55 points in 70 games, the 10th-highest among NHL defensemen. As the season progressed, his ice-time jumped to an average of 25 minutes per game and he assumed
first-pairing duties.
He was one of only three defensemen under the age of 25 to score 50 points or more, along with
Jacob Trouba
Jacob Ryan Trouba (born February 26, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman and captain of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Trouba was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round, ninth overall, of th ...
and
Morgan Rielly
Morgan Frederick Rielly (born March 9, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the first round, fifth o ...
. With Ottawa's top two scorers,
Mark Stone and
Matt Duchene
Matthew Duchene (; born 16 January 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators, and Columbus ...
, both traded at the deadline, Chabot finished the season as the team's leading scorer.
Following the season, hockey writers began listing Chabot as one of the NHL's top defensemen,
and in September 2019, he signed an eight-year, $64 million contract extension with the Senators.
In the seasons that followed, Chabot was the keystone player in Ottawa's defence corps, which was otherwise considered thin by many commentators. As a result he logged very high minutes per game. In the
2021–22 season he averaged 26:23 minutes of ice time per game, the highest for any player on any team in the league, until a March 16, 2022 hand injury caused by
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...
forward
Sean Kuraly ruled him out for the remainder of the year.
International play
Chabot played at the
2015 IIHF World U18 Championships where he won a bronze medal with
Team Canada.
On December 1, 2015, Chabot was invited to the Team Canada selection camp for the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championships.
Chabot was selected as an alternate captain for Team Canada at the
2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
He helped guide Canada to a silver medal and was one of the top five scorers in the tournament.
On April 12, 2018, he was one of the 18 players to be named to the
2018 IIHF World Championship
The 2018 IIHF World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament hosted by the Danish cities of Copenhagen and Herning, held from 4–20 May 2018. The IIHF announced the winning bid on 23 May 2014 in Minsk, Belarus. South Korea made i ...
to represent
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. He finished the tournament with 1 point in 6 games.
On April 29, 2019, he was again named to represent Canada at the
2019 IIHF World Championship
The 2019 IIHF World Championship was hosted from 10 to 26 May 2019 by Slovakia. It was the second time that Slovakia has hosted the event as an independent country, as was the case in 2011. The host cities were Bratislava and Košice, as announce ...
. He helped Canada progress through to the playoff rounds before losing the final to
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
to finish with the Silver Medal on May 26, 2019.
He was named captain of Team Canada for the
2022 IIHF World Championship
The 2022 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Finland from 13 to 29 May 2022, as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. The host cities of the World Championships were Tampere and Helsinki, ...
.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
Awards and honours
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chabot, Thomas
1997 births
Living people
Belleville Senators players
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Ice hockey people from Quebec
National Hockey League first-round draft picks
Ottawa Senators draft picks
Ottawa Senators players
People from Sainte-Marie, Quebec
Saint John Sea Dogs players