WRITTEN BY- SENS97
Hello Chirpers, this ChirpEd is about this year’s NHL draft, which starts tonight in Chicago.
We will discuss a few players that we think the Senators should draft and who to keep an eye on going into the draft.
A few things that we should mention, this draft is regarded as a weaker draft by some however this is not entirely true in my opinion. It’s been labeled as a weaker draft because there doesn’t seem to be a ton of elite talent as the past few drafts but this doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be good players.
From my viewings and researching I believe there are three things that make this draft stronger than its perceived to be, the first being goaltending. There are about 12 goalies that I believe will go in the first four rounds that have a very good chance at being NHL goalies, and a minimum for 3 I believe will go in the first two rounds.
Secondly there is a lot of talent in this draft but the size bias is allowing these players to fall. Thirdly there isn’t a lot of defensive talent in the top end of this draft but after the first round there are a lot of potential second and third pairing dmen that could be had.
Lastly this draft class is going to be very hard to predict, even more so than the last few classes. Players ranked top ten by some may also be late first rounders by others, goalies going in the first round is a possibility and make it even harder to predict the later first round, injuries to many preseason top ten players have caused them to drop in some but not all rankings (Liljegren, Kostin, Vesalainen) and lastly the league in which players play in might play a factor in where they are drafted, whether it be higher or lower (Middlestadt, Makar, Oettinger,).
It seems as though this draft is going to be an interesting one and with all that being said these are the players we believe are the best choices for our Ottawa Senators.
FORWARDS
Forward Honourable mentions- Josh Norris, Joni Ikonen, Robert Thomas, Maxime Comtois, Jason Robertson.
Kailer Yamamoto
Spokane Chiefs
Shoots: Right
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 146lbs
Gp: 65 Pts: 99
Kailer Yamamoto, the 18 year old from Spokane Washington USA and the number one player on my list of draft eligibles that should be available to Ottawa. Yamamoto is the most enticing prospect to me personally because of his unique skill set. He extremely skilled with the puck, he has tremendous vision, skates with his head up, can shoot and score from the rush. Yamamoto isn’t all skill though, he can play a pest type roll and go head to head with any teams top players. He is often compared to a player in Johnny Gaudreau for the way he sees the ice, makes plays and can dominate the game for such a small player. Most scouts seem to think at worst he’s a bottom 6 player for his pest like attributes, and his top potential would be a top 6 scoring winger. He shoots right but plays left wing and center, which is another unique quality to his game. The reason for him to fall would be his size, listed only at 5’7” the size bias is working against Yamamoto, if he was a couple of inches taller he may have been a top 10 pick. Yamamoto is definitely the sexy pick of this years draft and if he is still on the board when Ottawa is on the clock, they should take the gamble on him.
DEFENCEMAN
Defence Honourable mentions- Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Urho Vaakanainen
The two defencemen the Sens should be looking at drafting are Erik Brännström and Conor Timmins. You really can’t go wrong with either option- one from the CHL and the other from the SHL. Both are projected as late first to early second rounders and are projected as top 4 defencemen.
Erik Brännström
Shoots Left
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 179 lb
Eksjo, Sweden
HV71
Brännström played the majority of his season with his SHL club HV71 but spent time with the junior club where he was the captain. Brännström scored over a point a game in with his junior team and scored a point per game in the playoffs. He is a smaller defender at 5’10” but is still roughly 180 lbs and can handle the physicality of playing against men. Hes projected to be more of an offensive defenceman putting up stellar numbers with his junior team. Playing pro his numbers dropped but not his role, he played mostly in the top 4 and has been very impressive with his men’s team as well. He can run the powerplay and is an extremely smart player. Being only 5’10” is the biggest reason he isn’t a top ten pick and will likely still be there when Ottawa is picking.
Conor Timmins
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Shoots Right
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 183 lbs
GP 67 Pts 61 Playoffs GP 11 Pts 8
The second defenceman we will look at is Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Conor Timmins. Timmis is considered to be a two-way defenceman but still finished top five in team scoring with 61 points in 67 games and he finished the regular season 5th in points for defencemen.Unlike Brännström he’s a right shot, 6’1”and roughly 180 lbs as well, so size is not an issue. He is a great passer which is very important in generating offence and transitioning play at the NHL quality. Having this quality is what I personally look for in a two-way defenceman. Timmins is a smart player but is not elite at anything in particular. He projects to be a top 4 right shot two-way defenceman which is highly valued in today’s NHL. He is a later riser on most rankings and this is the biggest reason he may be there when the Senators pick in the late first round.
GOALIES
To add more parody to this draft, it is very possible a goalie will go in the late first round. There will likely be good goalies available when the Sens select in the second round, however the best goalies will likely be gone. This may cause the sens to select one of two goalies, one more than the other because of his size and the fact he’s playing college hockey, as a starting goalie, against men, as an 18 year old. This goalie is Jake Oettinger of Boston University.
Jake Oettinger
Catches: Left
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 218lbs
Gp: 35 SV%: 9.27 GAA: 2.11
Oettinger is a late 1998 birthday, allowing him to play college hockey in his draft season. While he played on a good team, his numbers are very good for a college rookie. The thing to be warey of a late birthday is they tend to have better seasons than an early birthday would as they get nearly a full extra year of development. This should be taken into consideration however, his stats prior to this season, in the USHL, USDP, and the U-18 are very good. Jake had a plus 9.00 SV% in all of these leagues as a younger player. This means we should be less worried about his late birthday as his prior stats are very good and he has transitioned to the next level extremely well, so there isn’t much of a red flag. He’s the top ranked goaltender in essentially every ranking or mock draft I could find only to really have been challenged by Windsor’s Michael Dipietro or Finlands Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Oettinger is in my opinion, the most likely goaltender to creep his way into the first round for a few reasons, the first being he is probably the closest goalie to making the jump to the next level, with already a year of development in the college ranks, it’s not out of the question to play another season of college hockey or potentially join the AHL next season. The second reason is he physically fits the NHL mold of what teams what, big, standing at 6’4”, 205lbs, size is no issue. Lastly he’s a skilled goalie, he’s poised, has good rebound control and is a butterfly goalie, so Oettinger covers most of the net with just his size. With all these qualities it’s reasonable to assume Ottawa may take a long hard look at this college goalie in the late first round.
If Ottawa decides to trade their first round pick there are a few notable names that may fall to Ottawa in the second round. What’s really crazy about this draft is any play I below, could potentially go at either of Ottawa’s picks 28-47 because it’s so wide open. I mention these players as second round targets because the majority of scouts seem to think this is where these players will go, however don’t be surprised if Ottawa does grab two of these mentioned players or go off the board all together.
First off we have Swedish forward Jesper Boqvist. Boqvist spent his last season in three different leagues, SHL, Allsvenskan, and Sweden’s Superelit J20. He is a very good offensive player and resembles Jakob Silfverberg. His shot is fantastic and is a good skater but struggled with his jump to the next level. I still believe he has the skill to someday be a top 6 scoring winger but may take a little more time than other options.
The defenceman to watch when the Senators pick at 47 is Robin Salo the blueliner from Finland mens league, Liiga.
His numbers are comparable to fellow Finnish blueliner Miro Heiskanen playing in the same league, however Salo is a few months older. Heiskanen finished with dominant U18 tournament while Salo did not last year and is part of the reason there is so much separation in terms of rankings. Salo is, to put it frankly, an ugly skater and will need improvement if he is to ever make the jump to the NHL.
With all that being said is a smart responsible two way player, who can make a good first pass. This is very important in transitioning the plays to offence and is a translatable skill to the next level. I believe Salo is an underrated player that will be there at 47 if the Sens decide to hold onto that pick.
Lastly we will look at goaltender Michael Dipietro. Dipietro is a very different goaltender than Oettinger but still very good. He tracks the puck very well and is extremely athletic as you can tell from him lateral movement. He had a fantastic memorial cup run, winning the tournament and standing on his head to do so. The major reason he may fall to Ottawa in the second round will be his height. Dipietro stands at just 6 foot 202 pounds, that doesn’t fit the typical NHL standards. I still believe his skill in the crease will be able to take him to the next level however many NHL team will probably pass based off his height. If Ottawa passes on a goalie in the first round Dipietro should be on their radar for the second.
Goalie Honourable mentions
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Keith Petruzzelli
