The 29-year-old is playing some of his best hockey in a while, with two points, a ton of blocks and 25:50 of ice time per game to start the season.

The new hockey season has bestowed an immense amount of responsibility upon Thomas Chabot — some of it expected, some out of the blue.

There is no manual passed down by one’s predecessor containing all the secrets of navigating the captaincy of a Canadian NHL team. You must trust your instincts, rely on your teammates for support. It’s a feeling-out process.

And while thousands of handbooks exist for new parents, no one ever has been fully prepared for that wonderful yet winding road. Little Romy will be on his and wife Marion’s minds at all hours now.

Apparently, the family was on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nick Paul’s mind when Chabot scored 18:51 into his first game as captain during Ottawa’s season opener on Saturday. Paul, a teammate of Chabot’s for parts of five seasons in the nation’s capital, picked up the puck for the new father. It was destined for Romy’s room.

“I thought it was a pretty sweet move,” Chabot said of Paul’s gesture. “It’s a cool moment, obviously with everything that went down, being named the captain. But obviously, first goal (of the season), (more) important than that is first goal as a dad. It was a pretty cool feeling.”

Six minutes prior to the goal, a curveball was thrown at the Senators as Jake Sanderson — the squad’s top blue liner — aggravated a lower-body injury.

Duty called once again for Chabot, as he stepped into the role of No. 1 defenceman. Though, unlike the aforementioned tasks at hand, this was a test he had aced hundreds of times.

A throwback to the D.J. Smith era (2019-24), Chabot is playing nearly 26 minutes a night to open the 2026-27 campaign, in the top 10 among defencemen league-wide.

“Not surprising,” coach Travis Green said of how Chabot has handled the added workload. “Chabby’s more than capable of playing 27-30 minutes like a lot of top ‘D’ in the league. I don’t think we’d like to have all of our players playing that much, but he’s capable of it.”

The new captain is skating extremely well, perhaps better than ever before. His endurance is noticeable. He effortlessly escapes pressure in his own zone even nearing the end of shifts, either allowing teammates to regroup and turn up ice or head off on a change.

“He’s unbelievable,” fellow defenceman Tyler Kleven told the Ottawa Citizen after practice Thursday. “How he’s playing right now, he’s helping our team out so much, getting up in the rush, creating so much offensively. He’s been solid defensively, too. He plays a lot of minutes and his body allows him to do that. He’s a pro off the ice and it’s been fun to watch.”

On the three-game trip, Chabot had team-highs in blocks (11) and shot attempts (12). He was the only defender to have positive possession numbers upon returning to Ottawa with even-strength shot attempts at 54.1% in the Senators’ favour when Chabot was on the ice.

There will be no changes to the Sens defence corps for the home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday — Chabot and Spence up top; Kleven and Carter Yakemchuk round out the top four; and Nikolas Matinpalo and Cameron Crotty make up the third duo.

Sanderson has not returned to practice, but Artem Zub was in a regular contact jersey during the morning skate for the first time since sustaining a knee injury in the playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Green is unsure how close Zub is to playing games again, but the defenceman is “definitely making some progress.”

For now, the depth must shoulder the burden. So far, they have bent, not broken.

While Chabot admits the team only showed up for half of the game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, a 5-3 loss, it was the team’s third contest in four nights and there have been encouraging signs with many other defencemen.

Yakemchuk, hopeful to play his first full NHL season, has made considerable strides defensively in a matter of weeks.

The 21-year-old’s details are much better than they were during pre-season play. There is less hesitation in his game, doing well to secure the middle of the ice and goal mouth. He’s making smarter plays with the puck in the breakout.

Spence is playing 23:16 a night, four minutes more than his career high, Kleven has blocked nine shots, Matinpalo still hasn’t seen an offensive-zone start and Crotty has been serviceable.

“Like last year, guys stepped up when we needed it most,” Chabot said. “At that later point in the season last year, guys that came into the lineup did the job and got it done. And it’s the same mindset we have this year.

“Whoever’s playing is going to play maybe more minutes than they’re used to, but it’s all about getting the job done as a group.”