In this crazy world we live in right now, nothing is guaranteed. Okay, that’s not true. One thing is guaranteed.
The Ottawa Senators are about to have a franchise-altering draft.
Whenever it happens, however it happens, the 2020 NHL Draft is going to define the next decade of Senators hockey. Three first round picks, four second round picks and then six more picks in the next four rounds.
In any year, that amount of draft capital would be a game-changer. But when it comes in what is widely believed to be one of the deepest drafts in years, it’s not an exaggeration to call this the most important moment in Sens history.
Sens fans mostly scoffed at Eugene Melnyk’s suggestion that the team could be poised for a run of unparalleled success but when you look at the current prospect pool, the cap flexibility, the core players already in place and the draft picks in hand, it’s hard not to see the Ottawa Senators as a potential powerhouse in the years to come.
Seriously. Just look at it!
The amount of time I’ve spent staring longingly at this screenshot in the last few weeks is bordering on unhealthy. And by bordering on I mean entirely. And by unhealthy I mean understandable.
With the world-wide shutdown and general sense of uncertainty surrounding pro sports, it can be pretty easy to lose sight of just how good the future could be for the Ottawa Senators.
This podcast should fix that in an awful hurry.
Luke and James of Welcome to Your Karlsson Years fame, aka The Fifth Liners, and Brad Allen from HockeyProspect.com have delivered a much-needed reminder of just how good a spot the Senators are in heading into the 2020 Entry Draft.
What’s so refreshing about this discussion is the way they use a mix of intangibles like compete and work-ethic that are often dismissed in today’s hockey discourse and compliment that with both statistical and player trait analysis. It makes for one of the most compelling hockey-related podcasts I’ve listened to in a long time and is a must-listen for Sens fans ahead of the 2020 Draft.
They cover a range of topics including Byfield v. Stutzle, Quinn v. Rossi, Brady Tkachuk, Logan Brown and a few potential first-round sleepers in 2020.
In the exchange on Byfield and Stutzle they really capture just how difficult a decision the Senators could be faced with. Both guys have the tools to be elite centres and both guys have the potential to change the fate of a franchise but how they go about it couldn’t be more different.
Loading …I’ll admit my mind started to drift a little bit to the idea of having uhh both. A very real possibility considering some of the Draft Lottery scenarios being thrown around the last little while.
Whether it happens in June or later, the NHL Entry Draft and the Draft Lottery that comes before it really are two of the biggest days in the history of the Ottawa Senators.
As Brad Allen put it in the podcast, “If Ottawa does this right, it changes their entire franchise for the next decade…”
No pressure, Pierre.
