Whenever an NHL Draft arrives, teams need to make their selections worthy. For the Ottawa Senators, they've had their share of outstanding top draft picks.
From Alexei Yashin, to Jason Spezza, to Brady Tkachuk, to Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson in the same draft, the Senators have had success finding franchise players with their top picks. However, finding a steal later on in the draft can be tricky.
Draft steals can make-or-break a franchise. From a player falling in the first round or a player that is doubted and taken with a late round draft pick, the Senators have had success with having a successful draft steal in each decade.
Biggest draft steal from each decade in Senators history
In each decade, the Senators were able to luck out with finding a draft steal and then having that player impact the franchise in a positive way.
2020s- Ridly Greig
The 2020 NHL Draft saw the Senators hit the jackpot twice in the same draft with drafting Stutzle with the third overall pick and Sanderson with the fifth overall pick. However, the Senators had one more first-round draft pick in 2020.
While late first-rounder draft picks can be tricky, the Senators selected Ridly Greig with the 28th overall pick. In the 2023-24 season, Greig recroded 26 points in his true rookie season. Moving forward in the future, the Senators look at Greig as an important piece of their core.
While Tyler Kleven was taken by the Senators with the 44th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and is also looked at as an important core piece, Greig has played more games than Kleven and has made more of an impact as of now.
Zack Ostapchuk, Egor Sokolov, Leevi Merilainen and Cole Reinhardt were other draft picks in the 2020s decade who have had NHL experience, but the four of them combined have played 38 games in the NHL.