Draft Day: Ottawa Senators Full Seven-Round Mock Draft
With the NHL Draft starting on Friday, I tried my hand at running the Senators draft table using the Draft Hockey Prospects mock draft simulator
The NHL Draft won’t be as crucial for the Ottawa Senators franchise as in years past, regardless, holding a top-10 pick in any draft is an enviable position to be in and the team will certainly acquire the best talent available with their first selection.
Who's excited?! #NHLDraft | #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/dq9iiRwSac
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 23, 2021
Following the first round on Friday night, the Senators will have 5 selections on day 2 including picks 38, 41, 73, 169, and 201. With Trent Mann holding two picks near the top of the 2nd round, there’s reason to be optimistic that they’ll add two more highly talented players to their deep prospect pool.
Different from years past, this draft won’t define the rebuild as it’s unlikely the franchise will acquire blue-chip prospects the pedigree of Brady Tkachuk or Tim Stützle, but they can still add even more talent and assets to an already loaded prospect pool.
10th Overall
The Pick: Chaz Lucius (C), USNTDP (USHL)
2020-21 Stats: 12GP, 13G-5A-18P
With highly-regarded goaltending prospects Jesper Wallstedt and Sebastien Cossa sitting there, Trent Mann selects the self-pronounced “best goal scorer in the draft” Chaz Lucius. Now, I may receive some backlash for this pick, but I’m here to defend it. I’m extremely high on the goaltending options we have in house, especially with Filip Gustavsson and Mads Søgaard either has a great chance of being the goalie of the future. Now back to Lucius.
The 6’0″ center by way of the United States National Team Development Program and the Minnesota Golden Gophers is a very intelligent player with a significant amount of skill to boot. Lucius has a sneaky good knack for finding open spots on the ice, and he usually makes no mistake when given the opportunity. In the play below, Lucius does a great job making himself available for a one-timer off the rush and then proceeds to find the back of the net:
Lucius has scored at every level he’s played at, and his crazy production in the USHL (13 goals in 12 games) can’t be overlooked, the kid simply knows how to score, and that’s something the Senators could use at the forward position. The American forward’s progression path is definitely preferable for the Senators as they can let him marinate for a couple of years in college before likely being inserted into the team’s top-9.
The Senators could use another potential top-end centre in their prospect pool and Lucius can even be converted to the right-wing, where he should be able to slide seamlessly into the top-6 at some point in the future.
38th Overall
The Pick: Scott Morrow (RD), Shattuck St. Mary’s (USHS-Prep)
2020-21 Stats: 30GP, 8G-40A-48P
With their first pick of the second round, Trent Mann and staff select the talented defenceman out of one of the best prep schools in the nation to bolster their depth on the right side. At this point in the draft, the Senators have to be taking the best player available as they’re too deep at each position to consider picking based on needs.
Morrow is a relatively big defenceman at 6’2″ and 192 pounds, he used his size to overpower skaters in both USHS and the USHL where he appeared in 6 playoff games, check out this amazing shift versus league powerhouse the Chicago Steel:
Some team is going to draft Scott Morrow pretty high, right? You pretty much have to
— Derek Neumeier (@Derek_N_NHL) July 21, 2021
You can take a guy who plays like this and maybe iron out the creases in his game over time. But it's a lot harder to take someone vanilla and develop their raw skill up to a level like this pic.twitter.com/2ds6WSoM7b
Despite being held pointless in the USHL playoffs, Morrow proved why he’s so highly regarded with plays like this. Morrow has a lot of big fans in the draft community, and if the Senators are lucky enough to have him fall in their lap at pick 38, they should jump at the opportunity.
41st Overall
The Pick: Colton Dach (C/LW), Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
2020-21 Stats: 20GP, 11G-9A-20P
The Senators love drafting players with strong hockey bloodlines and Dach is another example of that, as he’s the brother of former 2019 3rd overall selection Kirby Dach. But enough about Kirby, brother Colton brings his own brand of hockey and one that the Senators staff will definitely gravitate towards.
We know the Senators’ value size in their lineup, and adding an 18-year-old who’s already 6’4″ and 205 pounds will certainly tickle Trent Mann’s fancy, but don’t be mistaken, Dach isn’t just a big body. He has a blistering shot with a sneaky quick release and he has the ability to score from anywhere on the ice, combine that with his underrated skill, and you have quite the enticing prospect. In WHL play from this past season, Dach relied on his NHL ready-shot to do damage:
Another situation where the Senators will turn to the BPA (Best Player Available) on their board, and there’s no doubting that they prefer players with size and some skill to boot. It’s definitely in the realm of possibility that Pierre Dorion could deal one of their early 2nd round picks, but for now, adding two prospects the calibre of Morrow and Dach would be great additions for the franchise.
73rd Overall
The Pick: Ethan Cardwell (C), Surahammars IF (HockeyEttan)
2020-21 Stats: 18GP, 9G-18A-27P
Cardwell was one of the players impacted by the OHL season’s cancellation and made the move over to Sweden to play in their third-tier men’s league. Despite only being 18 on a team filled with grown men, Cardwell immediately became the team’s best player, scoring at well over a point-per-game pace.
The Oshawa, Ontario native also enjoyed a stellar 2019-20 season, producing 23 goals and 47 points in 63 games split between the Saginaw Spirit and the Barrie Colts, but it wasn’t enough for the talented forward to be selected in the 2020 NHL Draft. Senators’ staff has shown an affinity in the past for selecting overagers in the NHL Draft with recent notable picks like Egor Sokolov, Drake Batherson, and Mark Kastelic among others. Cardwell showed off some serious skill while he dominated in Sweden, the powerplay tended to run through the 2021 draft-eligible:
The fun thing about Cardwell is his game doesn’t stop in the offensive zone, he’s tenacious on the puck and his motor rarely stops. Ranked 159th by Central Scouting among North American skaters, this would seem to be a reach at 73, but Trent Mann and staff are notorious for “reaching” in the draft, but then they somehow leave the draft with a steal. The Hockey Writers raved about Cardwell’s coachability and consistent motor.
“Cardwell is a player who every coach loves to have on their team. He is always moving his feet and is relentless on the forecheck”
The case could be the same for Cardwell. The Barrie colt product is an extremely effective forechecker who usually finds himself in the coach’s good graces with his great work ethic. Whenever you turn on the Cardwell’s tape it’s easy to notice him whenever he touches the ice, especially while in Sweden, teammates were looking to him to drive offense. At this point in the draft, and with all of the depth the Senators have in their organization, not all of these players can be expected to become NHL regulars. We as fans have to let Trent Mann work his magic #inTrentweTrust.
169th Overall
The Pick: Florian Elias (C), Adler Mannheim (DEL)
2020-21 Stats: 34GP-3G-5A-8P
This is sure to be a fan favourite selection, Elias formed 1/3 of the most exciting line in the 2021 World Junior Hockey Championship alongside Tim Stützle and John Jason Peterka. Standing at just 5’8″, the diminutive forward doesn’t let that deter him, he was all over the puck during the tournament. Elias finished the event with 4 goals and 9 points, good for 6th in tournament scoring, something nobody would have predicted prior to the World Juniors.
I’m sure Elias would have liked to produce better during league play, his 8 points are a bit underwhelming, but his play on the big stage in Edmonton was sure to get him noticed, especially by Senators’ staff. The Germany product uses his strong stickwork to steal pucks from opponents consistently, evident by his big goal versus the Russians:
The German coaching staff elected to play Elias at center instead of 3rd overall pick and Senators superstar Tim Stützle, he’s great at working in the middle of the ice. This is another overage selection for the Senators (surprise), as Elias was passed over in last year’s draft but it seems unlikely who goes through the process undrafted this year, in large part due to his coming-out party at the World Juniors. This pick just seems to make sense for the Senators and it isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility that Trent Mann has become enamored with the German centerman.
201st Overall
The Pick: Viktor Hurtig (RD), Västerås IK J20 (J20 Nationell)
2020-21 Stats: 11GP-5G-3A-8P
There’s not a huge book on Hurtig, but standing at 6’6″ with intriguing offensive talent and a long reach makes this the ideal late-round pick. In these rounds, you can’t expect players to be anywhere close to a finished product, but what you can do is pick based on projection, and drafting a long, offensively gifted defenceman in the 7th round seems like a bargain to me.
Here’s a clip that showcases just how smooth Hurtig is with the puck:
Find you a 6-foot-6 defenseman who can do this: Viktor Hurtig, #4 in black, with the zone exit and entry at about 1 minute into this clip.
— Derek Neumeier (@Derek_N_NHL) November 29, 2020
He's no Quinn Hughes or anything, but it's always impressive to see the giants who can carry the biscuit and aren't afraid to do it often pic.twitter.com/KnHWp0QGkY
Exceptional skating and puck control by the offensive-minded rearguard, he makes these end-to-end rushes look easy, it’s tough taking the puck off a smooth-skating defenceman who happens to be 6’6″. We know the Senators love taking players who have a connection with a previous player they’ve drafted and that’s the same with Hurtig, he played some games this season with Ethan Cardwell for Surahammers IF in Sweden’s third-tier men’s league.
With 6 picks in this year’s NHL Draft and 3 picks inside the top 41, expect the Senators to acquire significant talent through the draft yet again. Also, once more for the people in the back, #inTrentweTrust.