Sens draft pick in 2007 comes full circle after recall from AHL

Who says you can’t come home again?

Five years later, Jim O’Brien has returned to the Ottawa Senators.

Initially signed to a professional tryout in the off-season for a spot with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville, O’Brien, 29, the Senators’ top selection in the 2007 NHL draft, was called up earlier this week and suited up against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night for his first appearance in the Ottawa lineup in five years.

O’Brien’s career has come full circle. He last played for the Senators on April 2, 2013, and left the organization in 2014. He subsequently spent time in the New Jersey Devils’ organization.

After spending most of this season on an AHL contract in Belleville, on Sunday he signed a two-year, two-way deal running through next season.

“You just never know what to expect now,” O’Brien said before facing the Capitals. “It’s really exciting. I just kind of ended up landing here. It’s nice seeing everybody and it’s just nice being back.

“I always believed I could get back. That’s the thing: It’s hockey and you’ve got to keep on working and keep on going until you get a bounce. That’s what it’s been like for me.”

After trading Nick Shore to the Calgary Flames for a seventhround draft pick, the Senators needed a fourth-line centre and Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion doesn’t want young players like 2015 first-round selection Colin White in that role. He’d rather that White played bigger minutes in Belleville before coming up to the NHL.

O’Brien had 13 goals and 15 assists in 55 games with Belleville.

“It’s great seeing all the guys. We had a few laughs and kind of caught up. Some of them I haven’t seen for years, so it’s nice seeing the guys,” O’Brien said.

“It’s life. You grow up, I’ve kind of been all over the place playing and I guess you never know where you’ll end up next. You just keep working and now I end up back here with you guys.”