In the end, the Ottawa Senators have to be thrilled with the way this weekend’s Draft ended up. Especially the team’s scouting staff.
After watching so many of their top young prospects graduate to the NHL level the last couple seasons, the Senators were in desperate need of some added depth in the system. And that’s exactly what they came away with this weekend. Bryan Murray, Pierre Dorion and the scouts ended up with eight selections in this year’s Draft, including four in the first two rounds.
It gave them an opportunity to add four players that will almost certainly have an impact with this organization down the road. And because they picked four times in the first two rounds, they were able to take a variety of different players. A slick skating defenceman with top four upside. A sure-thing forward that plays a responsible two-way game. A power forward type that’s a little more a project pick and high-end skill forward who’s only scratched the surface of his potential.
I certainly won’t pretend to be a prospect expert but listening to the interviews with Dorion and the scouts following this weekend’s Draft, it’s pretty clear they are thrilled with the players they came away with.
Craig Smith from Hockey Prospectus is working on a post for us for tomorrow which will go a little more in-depth into each of these players. For now, a quick recap of this weekend’s selections including comments from the team’s Head Scout Bob Lowes courtesy of SensTV.
1st round (18th)- Thomas Chabot, Defenceman, QMJHL
1st round (21st)- Colin White, Centre, USHL
2nd round (36th)- Gabriel Gagne, Right Wing, QMJHL
2nd round (48th)- Filip Chlapik, Centre, QMJHL
4th round (107th)- Christian Wolanin, Defenceman, USHL
4th round (109th)- Filip Ahl, Left Wing, Sweden
5th round (139th)- Christian Jaros, Defenceman, Sweden
7th round (199th)- Joel Daccord, Goalie, US High School
