Trio Of Senators Prospects Make Strides At WJC Evaluation Tournament

The orientation camps were held for a number of countries this past week, and a trio of Ottawa Senators draft picks were present at the Lake Placid tournament that featured the host US, Canada, Finland and Sweden.

Jun 30, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; Curtis Lazar puts on his new Ottawa Senators jersey as the club’s first round pick. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Curtis Lazar (first round, 17th Overall in 2013) played in 2 of Canada’s 3 games, notching an assist and a pair of penalties.  He notched his assist in Thursday’s 7-3 win over Sweden, but was held pointless in Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Americans.  Lazar has a shot at making the final roster for the tournament, as coach Brent Sutter likes the way he plays and his willingness to adapt to any role he is asked to play.

Goalie Marcus Hogberg had an up and down tournament for his native Sweden.  The third round (78th overall) selection of the Senators played in three of Sweden’s first 4 games, winning his first 2 starts including a 27 save shutout of the US.  His last game wasn’t as successful as he was pulled after being peppered by 29 Canadian shots (allowing 3 goals) in just 24 minutes of action. Sweden plays its final game against the Finns on Saturday afternoon.

Perhaps the biggest surprise among the 3 Senators prospects is the play of their 6th round pick, Quentin Shore (168th overall).  In 4 games (2 with the “USA White” team and 2 with the assembled Team USA), Shore amassed 2 goals and 2 assists, including a 3 point effort in the tournament-ending 5-1 win over Canada on Saturday.  Shore survived the initial cut-down of the team and based on his performance in Lake Placid should be a lock to make the final evaluation camp before Christmas and stands a good shot of making the team.