Assistant GM Tim Murray was on the Team 1200 this past week speaking about a few Sens prospects and their progression this year. With a lot of prospects playing in Ottawa, Murray wanted to give his two cents on some of their futures and where he thinks they need to improve. Here is the link to the interview.
Murray spoke about the year defenceman Patrick Wiercioch has had and the improvements he has made in his game. Very disappointed that he did not make the big club out of training camp, Wiercioch has struggled to find his game at the AHL level at the start of the year. But in the second half of the season, Wiercioch has found his game and is gaining confidence in himself and is being given more responsibility on the ice. Murray stated that the major factor to Wiercioch’s future success in the NHL will be to add strength to his large but lean frame. Currently 6’4″ and 195lbs, if Wiercioch were to add 20lbs to his body, he would be able to handle NHL forwards and not get pushed around.
Murray touched on the upcoming NHL Entry Draft and what Ottawa’s plans might be. Believing it to be a deep draft pool, Murray thinks there is six or seven impact players at the top of the draft, and another patch of prospects after that that will play in the league. With two first round picks this year, Murray will look at picking the best available player. But if a forward and a defenceman are equal, Ottawa will most likely pick the forward as the organization is in need of impact forwards.
Murray also spoke about Swedish defensive prospect David Runblad. Being the youngest defenceman to score 50 points in the Swedish Elite League (he scored 50 pts in 55 gms), Murray is excited to see what Runblad can do here next year. Knowing that he needs to work on his strength and conditioning, Murray feels that Runblad will be able to come over next season and make an impact in Ottawa’s top six defence unit.
And lastly, Murray acknowledged that Ottawa is in the hunt for a few of the top NCAA free agents once their college seasons end. Even though Murray did not tip his hand on who the organization is pursuing, Ottawa does have a proven track record of luring top NCAA free agents to Ottawa (see Butler and Winchester). And with Ottawa in a rebuild, there are spots up for grabs that can be used to entice NCAA free agents to come to Ottawa for a quicker route to their NHL career.
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