Like all NHL teams, the Ottawa Senators have their ups and downs at the draft table.
They have had first-round home runs (Marian Hossa, Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson) and first-round busts (Mathieu Chouinard, Brian Lee, Curtis Lazar), but one element that has been fairly consistent with Ottawa’s draft history is an ability to find gems in later rounds.
Going all the way back to Daniel Alfredsson in 1994 (sixth round, 133rd) up to Mike Hoffman in 2009 (5th round, 130th) and Mark Stone in 2010 (6th round, 178th), the Senators have shown a knack for drafting and developing core talent well beyond the first round.
Without the budgets to sign big free agents, the organization has put a premium on drafting well and signing select NCAA or European free agents (Russian defenceman Artyom Zub is expected to sign soon in Ottawa). Despite a small staff, general manager Pierre Dorion and his assistant, Peter MacTavish, do an excellent job of evaluating talent and working with their scouting staff.
On the horizon, of course, is a rare opportunity to draft two high picks, the Senators’ own and San Jose’s, whenever the 2020 draft gets down to business in this year of uncertainty.
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This draft focus has us looking at the Senators top three drafts of the salary cap era, or the last 15 years.
It’s a moving target because players continue to develop or regress, within the organization or elsewhere. Do the Senators get credit for drafting Mika Zibanejad sixth overall in 2011 when the centre made his greatest impact after moving over to the New York Rangers?
Of course. Some players need time. Others need a wake up call or a fresh start. The goal is to draft players who go on to have success in the NHL and that is the basis for judgment.
Ottawa’s 2008 draft
| Name | Round | Pick |
|---|---|---|
| Erik Karlsson | 1 | 15 |
| Patrick Wiercioch 42 | 2 | 42 |
| Zack Smith 79 | 3 | 79 |
| Andre Petersson | 4 | 109 |
| Derek Grant | 4 | 119 |
| Mark Borowiecki | 5 | 139 |
| Emil Sandin | 7 | 199 |
A lasting feature of the 2008 draft was the recognition by then-GM Bryan Murray that the Senators needed to make a splash with Ottawa as the host city. The late Murray pulled that off in style by trading up three places to 15th (with Nashville) to grab a skinny Swedish kid who had charisma coming out of his ears. “Hi, I’m Erik Karlsson!” he beamed, to each player drafted after him, shaking everyone’s hand.
With one superstar (and two Norris seasons) in Karlsson and two solid team players, Zack Smith and Mark Borowiecki, this was a successful draft. Karlsson delivered eight magnificent seasons before getting traded in September, 2018 for a haul of players and draft choices that led to Ottawa having an extra lottery pick in 2020. In this way drafting Karlsson continues to pay dividends.
Smith and Borowiecki played a combined 17 seasons for the Senators, Smith a solid two-way depth centre and Borowiecki a rock on defence. Borowiecki, expected to re-sign with Ottawa, is the only 2008 selection still with the team. The well-travelled Derek Grant has had a bit of a rebirth this season with 15 goals (14 for Anaheim and one with New Jersey). Patrick Wiercioch played 268 NHL games including four good seasons with the Senators.
Ottawa’s 2015 draft
| Name | Round | Pick |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Chabot | 1 | 18 |
| Colin White | 1 | 21 |
| Gabriel Gagne | 2 | 36 |
| Filip Chlapik | 2 | 48 |
| Christian Wolanin | 4 | 107 |
| Filip Ahl | 4 | 109 |
| Christian Jaros | 5 | 139 |
| Joey Daccord | 7 | 199 |
Though it will go down as the year Ottawa drafted a franchise defenceman in Thomas Chabot, 2015 was thought of at the time as the draft of the Christians (2) and the Filips (2). Both of the Christians, Wolanin and Jaros, are still in the blue line picture for the Senators while one of the Filips, Chlapik, has played 56 games for the Senators and was a good role player in Ottawa and Belleville (AHL) this season.
The striking reminder served by a draft held five years ago — man, it can take time for players to find their place at the next level. Chabot and White are sure-fire NHLers, even if White didn’t have a great season after signing a good contract. He will be fine, though the jury is out on his eventual production level.
Wolanin, with 43 NHL games played for the Senators and coming off a strong 2018-19, might have had a full season in Ottawa this year if not for a shoulder injury at training camp. He was just getting back into the lineup, rehabbing with the B-Sens, when the plug was pulled on the season. Jaros has also been up and down, in Ottawa and Belleville, but has quietly played 76 NHL games.
Goaltender Joey Daccord might be the darkhorse of the group. A seventh-round pick, Daccord made a name for himself, and for budding Arizona State, and vaulted into a shared starter position in Belleville this season.
If Wolanin bounces back and Daccord can take another step, this draft class is going to look pretty good in retrospect.
Ottawa’s 2011 draft
| Name | Round | Pick |
|---|---|---|
| Mika Zibanejad | 1 | 6 |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 21 |
| Matt Puempel | 1 | 24 |
| Shane Prince | 2 | 61 |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | 4 | 96 |
| Fredrik Claesson | 5 | 126 |
| Darren Kramer | 6 | 156 |
| Max McCormick | 6 | 171 |
| Jordan Fransoo | 7 | 186 |
| Ryan Dzingel | 7 | 204 |
Considering the state of the franchise in 2011 — in rebuilding mode for the first time after many years of contention — 2011 figures to stand out. It does, for sheer volume, but it disappoints, too, because the best Ottawa could do with three first-round picks was: Zibanejad, Stefan Noesen and Matt Puempel. Of the three, only Zibanejad really panned out. Noesen was set back by injuries and has managed 199 games for four different organizations, none of them Ottawa. Puempel has been productive — in the AHL. He has 16 points in 87 NHL games.
Pageau, and it figures when you know him, saved the day for the Senators. He not only punched above his weight class as a player, he did so as a fourth-round pick as well. Local hero, playoff star, he moved on to the New York Islanders at the deadline and will be sorely missed.
Prince, a popular Ottawa 67’s junior, managed 128 NHL games with the Senators and Islanders and is in the KHL. Dzingel and McCormick were an interesting project out of Ohio State. Former assistant GM Randy Lee worked hard to bring these two along and they both cracked Ottawa’s lineup at one point. McCormick didn’t stick, but got in 71 games for the Senators. Dzingel delivered two 20-goal seasons with the Senators and moved at last year’s deadline to Columbus, before signing a free agent contract with Carolina.
Defenceman Freddy Claesson has split time in the AHL but has 155 NHL games on his resume. He was traded from the New York Rangers to the New Jersey Devils at the recent deadline.
Let’s call it three legit NHLers — Zibanejad, Pageau and Dzingel — out of ten picks. Ottawa threw a lot of darts at the board in 2015 and hit a few, missed on several.
2018, 2019 works in progress
Not enough time has elapsed to assess the past two Ottawa drafts but they look promising.
Dorion’s gamble on taking Brady Tkachuk fourth overall in 2018 and giving up the opportunity to have his first-round pick in 2019 has worked out just fine, thanks to Tkachuk’s ability to step into the NHL as a man-child and make a huge impact. Defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker, Ottawa’s second first-round pick in 2018 (26th overall) has been brilliant for North Dakota and could step into AHL Belleville as early as next season. Forward Jonathan Gruden and goalie Kevin Mandolese are a couple of others to watch from that harvest.
From 2019, the Senators first three picks look interesting — Finnish defenceman Lassi Thomson, UND forward Shane Pinto and goalie Mads Sogaard, the great big Dane.