As the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers get set to battle for the Stanley Cup beginning on Wednesday night, the other 28 teams have already shifted their focus to the NHL Entry Draft scheduled for June 27th and 28th in Philadelphia.
Yesterday, we found out that two Senators Draft picks will be re-entering the draft after they were not offered contracts by the organization. Forward Jarrod Maidens and goaltender Francois Brassard were both let go by the organizations and will be up for grabs in a few weeks. Both decisions were tough ones for the Senators to make.
In Francois Brassard, the Senators are losing a 6th rounder from the 2012 Draft. Brassard appeared in 54 games with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, posting a 28-12-9 record along with a 2.95 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. He was dealt to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at the end of last month. With the emergence of Andrew Hammond, and Chris Driedger and Marcus Hogberg looking like legitimate prospects, there wasn’t a whole lot of room left for Brassard.
In Jarrod Maidens, Ottawa never really had a chance to see what type of player they had.
The Senators took Maidens with the 82nd overall pick in the 2012 Draft. The 3rd round selection was an obvious gamble at the time and because of a sever concussion, it just hasn’t worked out. Maidens was considered to be a first round talent but a concussion in his draft year caused him to drop dramatically on Draft Day. The Senators rolled the dice a little bit on Maidens and despite what seemed like progress over the last couple seasons, Maidens was never able to return to the ice.
Maidens hasn’t played a game since the 2011-2012 season.
With those tough decisions out of the way, the Senators shift their focus to restocking the cupboards a little bit at the draft, 25 days from now. Ottawa doesn’t currently hold a first round pick and will make their first pick in the second round, 40th overall.
They also hold picks in the 3rd (70th), 4th (100th), and 7th (190th) rounds.
