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Ottawa Senators plan going into the draft

By Naftali Clinton |
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: Lassi Thomson (sixth from right), nineteenth overall pick of the Ottawa Senators, poses for a group photo with team personnel during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: Lassi Thomson (sixth from right), nineteenth overall pick of the Ottawa Senators, poses for a group photo with team personnel during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Senators should have a solid plan going into a crucial draft for the team in this developmental stage of the franchise.

This is an extremely important draft regarding the Senators immediate and long-term success.

They currently own eleven picks in the upcoming 2020 draft, and will likely try to add a few more as we approach the deadline.

One of the main pieces that came back in return for Erik Karlsson was the San Jose Sharks’ first round pick in 2020. At the time it was looking like it was destined to be a 25-31 range pick. But that has changed as the Sharks play of late has been absolutely horrible, which is great for the Senators organization.

Now they have a possible two top ten picks in a loaded draft.

There are two main approaches when it comes to drafting at the NHL level, one is just to simply draft the best player available. The other is to draft a player specific to the teams needs.

General managers around the league have to decide one way to go on draft day in June. For first round picks they likely go the best player available, or BPA route.

I did a random lottery sim and the results were Ottawa receiving the 2nd and 7th overall picks. So for the 2nd overall pick they will just get Quinton Byfield, because he’s simply head and shoulders ahead of anyone below him at this point.

He also fits our need for a true number one centre, which we haven’t had since Jason Spezza was a Senator. So that one is a no-brainer.

For the 7th pick however it gets a bit more complicated, should they go after another forward, or maybe add another defenceman to an already loaded group.

Or another option I could see them do would be to make a splash and draft highly touted goalie prospect, Yaroslav Askarov.

The Senators already have a great pool of young goalies in their system, but adding a goalie who has Carey Price potential, who could decline that?

If they decide not to go that route another option that would be good, would be Tim Stutzle. He’s a highly skilled German player playing among men, and is actually putting up good numbers.

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