The Ottawa Senators' 2020 NHL Draft first-round haul is in the books, with the club adding forward Tim Stuetzle at third-overall, defenceman Jake Sanderson at fifth-overall, and forward Ridly Greig at 28th-overall.
BREAKING: The @Senators select Tim Stuetzle with the No. 3 pick in the 2020 #NHLDraft. pic.twitter.com/kV9kILE5eE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 6, 2020
The club kicked things off with Stuetzle at No. 3 -- the highly-touted forward is a product of the renowned Adler Mannheim organization in Germany, where Stuetzle impressed as a teenager playing against grown men. With his name called at No. 3 by Ottawa, Stuetzle joins countryman Leon Draisaitl among the highest-drafted German players in NHL history, and continues a streak of German first-rounders that includes close friend and former teammate Moritz Seider (No. 6, 2019) and Dominik Bokk (No. 25, 2018).
Stuetzle put up 34 points in 41 games with Mannheim last season, running the club's dominant power play by the season's end.
The Senators acquired the eventual third-overall pick in the 2020 draft via the September 2018 trade that sent former captain Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks.
With the second of their three first-round picks on the night, the Senators opted to beef up their blue line with Sanderson, a big-bodied left-shot defenceman from the U.S. NTDP, whose game is said to be a perfect fit in today's dynamic NHL.
The son of former NHLer Geoff Sanderson, the younger Sanderson posted 14 points through 19 games this season.
Rounding out their first-round haul, the Senators added Greig from the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings at No. 28. Greig put up 26 goals and 60 points in 56 games for Brandon in 2019-20, working under the guidance of head coach, and former NHLer, Dave Lowry.
The Senators acquired the 28th-overall pick in the 2020 draft in the deal that sent Jean-Gabriel Pageau to the New York Islanders.
The @Senators select Ridly Greig with the No. 28 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. #NHLDraft Tracker: https://t.co/pATnOBGemb
Presented by @rogers. #TeamRogers pic.twitter.com/Q2F0RL2Hft— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 7, 2020
Like Sanderson, Greig's father also suited up in the NHL back in the day — Mark Greig logged 125 games after being drafted 15th overall in the 1990 NHL Draft, playing for the Hartford Whalers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers.
Stuetzle and Greig join a promising Senators forward corps led by 2018 fourth-overall pick Brady Tkachuk, with a crew of talented young scorers waiting in AHL Belleville as well. Sanderson, meanwhile, joins a Senators blue line led by 23-year-old Thomas Chabot, who's amassed 94 points over the past two seasons. Before he heads north, though, Sanderson is set to suit up for the University of North Dakota in 2020-21, where he'll join fellow Senators defensive prospect Jacob Bernard-Docker.
