Is it just me or is this week is really dragging along? I have been looking forward to this Entry Draft since the final regular season game ended (probably before that) and now that we are in Draft Week, time seems to be standing still.
The fact is, in just two more days we will have all the answers to the puzzle that is the NHL Entry Draft.
Had a chance to speak with a source last night and was trying to get a sense of what the Senators expect heading into the weekend. Obviously, it’s extremely difficult to predict what will happen but the consensus seems to be the Oilers will take Nugent-Hopkins.
Apparently, just about every team is having a difficult time getting a read on what the Avs plan to do at second overall. It would be difficult for them to leave Larsson on the board but there is a very real possibility they like Landeskog with that 2nd pick. As I have mentioned before, Gabriel Landeskog seems to be the Sens “Plan A”. Very unlikely he falls to them at six, but if the price is right, the Sens will move up to grab him.
There is also an interesting scenario where Huberdeau could be the guy that falls to six. Nugent-Hopkins, Landeskog, Larsson, Zibanejad, Hamilton could very well go as the top five. Apparently the Devils are quite high on Zibanejad so either they look at trading back, or grab him at four.
Another scenario that is a little more worrisome for the Sens is one where the Islanders set their sights on a defenceman. There is a tendency to assume this is a good thing for Ottawa but what’s stopping the Isles from trading with Winnipeg to get more assets and drop back to seven, knowing full well the Sens won’t take a defenceman. Could potentially create a bidding war between Ottawa and Winnipeg if they both have their sights set on the same player. Perhaps further justification for the Sens to look at moving up if they can.
These are all scenarios we have considered on the site but it’s interesting to know that the team may be thinking about them too.
- There is a chance that the Sens could look to move a defenceman on draft day. Obviously they would love to find a taker for Filip Kuba but I have also heard some minor buzz around Sergei Gonchar.
- The Sens are still looking to add another name to their coaching staff. As Andy Strickland pointed out yesterday, Mark Reeds could very well end up with a job here in Ottawa. Has a connection to new Sens head coach Paul MacLean.
- The potential hiring of Dave Cameron has caused some serious backlash among Sens fans. His connection to Melnyk obviously has some people concerned that the Sens Owner may once again be overly involved on the hockey operations side. And while that is definitely a concern, I have talked to a couple people in the organization that have great things to say about Cameron. He has a fairly impressive resume, is an extremely hard-worker and is a genuinely good guy.
