Staff: 22nd2025: NRReaders: NR

Christian Kyrou signed with the Senators’ organization this offseason after not being tendered a qualifying offer by the Philadelphia Flyers. At 22, he’s right at that point in his development where he’s starting to age out of being a prospect and should be looking to make the jump to the NHL fairly soon. It’s pretty obvious that this is an AHL signing, not an NHL one, as the Sens don’t really need help on defence, but Kyrou has enough upside to be an intriguing prospect – and make the cut for our Top 25 Under 25 rankings.

Kyrou is, yes, the younger brother of NHL forward Jordan Kyrou. He’s apparently shown flashes of his brother’s offensive skill, and has a fantastic shot from the point. The Stars drafted him in the second round in 2022, and he scored more than a point per game in his final two seasons of junior hockey, an impressive accomplishment for a defenceman. Since then, he has played 3 seasons in the AHL, putting up good numbers for a defenceman the whole time, but still has yet to play his first NHL game.

Dobber Prospects describes him as a versatile, offensively gifted player with a great shot who still needs a bit of time to develop. He’s put up decent numbers in the AHL, but hasn’t been impressive enough to push past more impressive defencemen in the Stars or Flyers organizations. 

It seems pretty obvious what the Sens’ logic was when signing the young defender. With Carter Yakemchuk most likely making the jump to the NHL, Belleville will need help on defence, and we know Kyrou can do that job. If his ceiling ends up being “solid AHL defenceman” and nothing more, then that’s fine, but he also seems like a solid option to be called up to the NHL if there are injuries on defence. The team would probably rather trust him than an even younger prospect who definitely needs more time in the minor leagues.

The best case scenario with the young defenceman is that a few more years in the AHL, maybe with a few short stints in the NHL if he’s needed there, will help him grow into a solid NHL defenceman that can bolster an already strong blue line. If that doesn’t happen, the Sens have at least improved their AHL squad. A low-risk, high-reward acquisition that should be interesting to watch this coming year.