Gilles Senn (born 1 March 1996) is a Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender for HC Davos of the National League (NL). Senn was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, he moved to North America in 2019, mainly playing with New Jersey's American Hockey League affiliate. He made his NHL debut that year, playing two games for the Devils. Internationally Senn has been named to the Swiss national team for several tournaments, but has not played in any games.

Gilles Senn
Senn with HC Davos in 2018
Born (1996-03-01) 1 March 1996 (age 28)
Visp, Switzerland
Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight 191 lb (87 kg; 13 st 9 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NL team
Former teams
HC Davos
New Jersey Devils
National team   Switzerland
NHL draft 129th overall, 2017
New Jersey Devils
Playing career 2015–present

Playing career

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As a child, Senn was encouraged to play hockey after watching his brother train with Visp. He alternated between forward, defence, and goalie, before eventually settling for goaltender.[1] While growing up in Switzerland, he had limited exposure to the National Hockey League but as he grew older, he began to idolize NHL goaltenders David Aebischer and Martin Gerber.[2] At the age of 16, Senn left the Visp U17 for Davos U17 to combine school and sport.[1] He finished Gymnasium with a high school diploma while continuing to play hockey.[3]

Senn helped lead HC Davos to the semi-finals of the 2016 Spengler Cup with a 3–1 win over the Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg.[4] After the 2016–17 season, Davos lost their starting goaltender Leonardo Genoni to SC Bern, which promoted Senn to their starter the following season.[1] He worked alongside his backup Joren van Pottelberghe to help lead HC Davos to the semi-finals, before eventually losing 5–3.[5] Senn played a career high 34 games during the regular season and posted a .910 save percentage.[6]

Despite the loss in the semi-finals, Senn's performance impressed the New Jersey Devils who drafted him 129th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.[7] In August 2017, he was the recipient of the NLA's Youngster of the Year Award.[8]

On 17 April 2019, Senn signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils.[9] Later that year, he attended the Devils' development camp at the Prudential Center.[10] After attending the Devils' training camp, he was reassigned to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Binghamton Devils.[11] Senn eventually made his AHL debut with the Binghamton Devils on 12 October in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Belleville Senators.[12] After posting a .89 save percentage, he was reassigned to their ECHL affiliate the Adirondack Thunder on 23 November, but was recalled before he could play a game.[13] On 20 December, Senn made his NHL debut when he replaced Mackenzie Blackwood in the third period. He made two saves and allowed one goal as the Devils lost 5–2 against the Washington Capitals.[14] In the next game, on 21 December, Senn made his first NHL start, making 35 saves and allowing three goals in a 5–1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.[15]

After two seasons playing within the Devils' organization, Senn as a restricted free agent, opted to return to Switzerland and sign a three-year contract with original club, HC Davos, on 27 May 2021.[16]

International play

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Medal record
Representing    Switzerland
Ice Hockey
World Championships
  2018 Denmark

During the 2017–18 season, Senn was selected as the third goaltender for Team Switzerland during the 2018 IIHF World Championship, behind Genoni and Reto Berra.[17] He played in four exhibition games and recorded a 2.55 goals against average and .914 save percentage.[7] As a member of Team Switzerland, he earned a silver medal after a loss in the gold medal game to Sweden.[18]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2012–13 HC Davos Elite Jr. A 8 3.43 3 4.75
2013–14 HC Davos Elite Jr. A 34 2.76 3 5.00
2014–15 HC Davos Elite Jr. A 32 17 9 2 1,862 76 3 2.52 9 5 3 568 22 1 2.33
2014–15 HC Davos NLA 4 1 0 0 85 3 0 2.11 .917
2015–16 HC Davos Elite Jr. A 16 8 5 1 838 45 0 3.22
2015–16 HC Davos NLA 6 1 2 0 234 15 0 3.84 .883
2016–17 HC Davos NLA 34 16 14 3 2,000 88 1 2.64 .917 10 6 4 639 29 0 2.72 .897
2017–18 HC Davos NL 30 12 10 1 1,748 85 1 2.92 .905 6 2 4 358 19 0 3.19 .894
2018–19 HC Davos NL 20 4 15 0 1,167 62 0 3.19 .901
2019–20 Binghamton Devils AHL 27 17 7 2 1,605 74 1 2.77 .901
2019–20 New Jersey Devils NHL 2 0 1 0 70 4 0 3.42 .902
2020–21 Binghamton Devils AHL 17 3 10 2 943 56 0 3.56 .895
2021–22 HC Davos NL 21 7 10 1 1,106 63 0 3.42 .896
NL totals 115 41 51 5 6,340 316 2 3.31 .898 16 8 8 997 48 0 2.89 .896
NHL totals 2 0 1 0 70 4 0 3.42 .902

References

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  1. ^ a b c "EXKLUSIV: GILLES SENN IM INTERVIEW". hcd.ch (in German). 4 February 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  2. ^ Stein, Amanda (17 April 2019). "FEATURE: Contract signing first step for Gilles Senn". nhl.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  3. ^ "AUF INS "TEUFLISCHE" ABENTEUER". hcd.ch (in German). 3 September 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  4. ^ "EIN GROSSER ABEND FÜR GILLES SENN UND DEN HCD". hcd.ch (in German). 19 December 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  5. ^ "GILLES SENN BRICHT SEIN SCHWEIGEN". hcd.ch. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Goaltender Gilles Senn Re-Assigned to Adirondack". oursportscentral.com. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b Robenhymer, Julie (12 May 2018). "Prospect Gilles Senn is watching and learning at the IIHF Worlds". nhl.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  8. ^ "DER "YOUNGSTER" UND DER DAUERBRENNER". hcd.ch (in German). 5 August 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  9. ^ "RELEASE: Devils sign Gilles Senn to a two-year entry-level contract". nhl.com. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Gilles Senn and Akira Schmid in the Devils' development camp". swisshockeynews.ch. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  11. ^ "RELEASE: Devils Assign 16 Players to Binghamton". nhl.com. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  12. ^ Foot, David (12 October 2019). "B-Sens battle back to beat Devils for first win of 2019/20". quintenews.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Gilles Senn has already been recalled to the AHL again". swisshockeynews.com. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  14. ^ "NHL: Capitals schiessen New Jersey ab – Debüt für Gilles Senn". Nau.ch (in Swiss High German). 21 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  15. ^ Ciampa, Marc (21 December 2019). "GAME STORY: Blue Jackets 5, Devils 1". NHL.com. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  16. ^ "Gilles Senn returns to Davos" (in German). HC Davos. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  17. ^ "GILLES SENN ERLEBT SEINE ERSTE WM AUS SPEZIELLER OPTIK". hcd.ch (in German). 11 May 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  18. ^ Robenhymer, Julie (21 May 2018). "World Championship - Medal Round Recap". nhl.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
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