History Not on the Senators’ Side at Draft Day

When Bryan Murray and the Ottawa Senators sit down on June 25th in their comfortable Los Angeles table with a Centurion Head on it, they must realize that picking 16th overall pick can have it’s positives and it’s negatives. Obviously the Senators never were good at drafting under John Muckler’s reign. You get the feeling that all that has changed ever since the arrival of Murray, who is a draft whiz. Well, that could change at this Entry Draft.

Already not a very deep draft, at least when comparing to the past two years, the Senators will have to try and find a gem with the 16th pick. History has shown though, that doesn’t happen when you’re #16 on the clock. You can see all the picks at 16th overall since the first draft the Sens participated in, in 1992, here.

Now I can’t speak for Nick Leddy, who was picked by the Minnesota Wild and than traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, or even Joe Colborne. But I can see only three out of eighteen (!) 16th overall pick that play in the NHL right now. In fact, picking from 16th is the worst to pick from in the whole draft.

The Senators only have 5 picks in this year’s Draft, and unless Bryan Murray is able to get some more, he needs to strike gold on his first round pick, or a whole year of trying to find who is who and all that leading up to the Draft, will be wasted. Crossing my fingers it will be Emerson Etem.

I will be in Los Angeles at 2:30 pm Western Time on Tuesday, June 22nd. Stay tuned for the FanSided Mock Draft, coming up in a few short days on the NHL main site, Too Many Men On The Site.

Also, check out the Ottawa Senators pre-season schedule at the top tab under Off-Season 2010, and scroll down to Pre-Season Schedule.