The National Hockey League held its annual draft lottery tonight, and unfortunately the Ottawa Senators were not a big winner this season. Thankfully, though, they weren’t a big loser either. They didn’t move up or down, which means they will pick tenth overall when it comes time for the draft.
The challenge for teams – including the Senators – this year is that the scouting game has completely changed. For many of the top prospects in this year’s class, scouting opportunities have ranged from limited to non-existent. Television networks often try to say there’s a lack of consensus at the top of the draft board to generate interest in their programming, but it’s legitimately true with this year’s draft. The variance in draft rankings is crazy, to the point that even one of the NHL’s most stoic General Managers is willing to have a bit of fun with it:
So, while there’s no real way to gauge what the Senators might have available to them when it comes time to select tenth overall, the fact that we know they will be selecting tenth – rather than, say, somewhere in the top three – allows us to have a bit of a different conversation.
If there’s anything we learned this past year, it’s that many of the organization’s young players are ready to usher in a renewed era of competitiveness. Once Pierre Dorion and DJ Smith moved the dead-weight veterans out of the lineup, and began giving prospects opportunity, the team’s fortunes increased in a material way. It’s not just that their win-loss record was more competitive, but that they *looked* a whole lot better from an eye test perspective. Simply put, it was a ton of fun to watch this team down the stretch.
Given that end-of-season success, it’s difficult to feel like the Senators aren’t a lot closer to challenging for a playoff berth than a lot of people give them credit for; that’s especially true when you take into account the level of play (or lack thereof) we’ve seen from the North Division in this postseason. With another summer of development, this team has the potential to be dangerous as soon as next year. All of the core pieces are in that 22-25 age range right at this moment.
Accordingly, the big question on my mind is whether it might make sense for Ottawa to consider trading the tenth overall selection for a more immediate impact player. If this roster is as close as it looks to taking that next step, the idea of making the pick to wait for someone who is at least two or three years away seems like a lost opportunity, especially with no sure things in this COVID-19-plagued draft environment. On the flip side, however, top ten picks don’t get moved very often because they are tremendously valuable assets. If the Senators swing for the fences and connect with that selection, it could be another franchise-defining move for this management group. There are – as with most things – pros and cons to both courses of action.
I’ll leave it up to you. Should the Senators make the selection, or see what’s out there on the trade market? If you’re voting the latter, what would it take?
What should the Senators do with the 10th Overall Pick?
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