Hey man, glad you’re optimistic. Dorion will need fans like you to convince that freakin Leevi Merilainen was a “steal”.

Almost all the players we drafted have AHL or Fringe NHLer next to them based on the way they play. This is supposed to be a highly skilled draft, and we got guys with “intangibles”.

Also, even if there’s a low % (5% isn’t even close to the success rate the 2nd round yields) of getting a player who’ll contribute to your team, try to aim for the guys with the highest upside.

Freakin....Leevi Merilainen
- Trilla

Calm down. Where a player is drafted is no guarantee of success. Daigle, Stefan, and DiPietro were busts (drafted 1st overall). Look where players like Alfredsson, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Benn, Stone, and Lundqvist (to name a few) were drafted.

In the 2011 draft, would you have honestly taken Nugent-Hopkins with the first overall pick over Landeskog, Huberdeau, Zibanejad, Scheifele, Hamilton, Binnington, Kucherov, or Gibson? There is no way to know how a player will develop, so why assume Ottawa failed?

Let's just reserve judgment until we see what these draft picks develop into.

happy with the Murray trade. So so about the picks but time will tell.

So, how good were Jones and Werenski in the first round against the Leafs?

Sens had Sanderson #4 on their BPA board.

Had Stutzle at #2.
- spatso

I’m not really sure what your point is. Leafs should’ve won that series. Jackets were outshot every game..they had the hotter goalie.

Also, don’t buy too much into that board. Had the Sens selected Byfield, they would’ve shown he’s the 2nd best player on their board.

Same with Sanderson. If he’s selected 4th overall, they’re gna put the guy they pick at 5, as the 4th best player.

John Gruden was a 4th round pick in 2018, who shifted over from the NCAA to the London Knights (OHL) due to ice time concerns, and responded with 30G in his first OHL season. He was also a late cut from the USA WJC team last year. Decent mid-level prospect, may have 2nd/3rd line upside if it all comes together, but we'll see how he transitions to the AHL.

As someone who watches the majority of London Knights games, Gruden’s hands aren’t that great and he doesn’t particularly stand out as a great player even in his +1 year. He seems defensively sound, but I was hoping for a lot more when London picked him out of the NCAA. Might turn out to be a 3rd/4th line option in the NHL, but I’d be really surprised if he becomes more than that on any sort of consistent basis.

You guys did good work in the past 24hrs.

Hopefully reviving the Battle of Ontario

I am impressed. I had no idea that this forum had so many professional scouts that we also Senators fans.

I think the Sens have had an exceptional draft.

They drafted an elite, high skill forward who is the top ranked Europen in this draft.

They drafted a high skilled physical defenseman who is the top ranked American in this draft.

They drafted a character player with their 3rd first round pick. He has a strong offensive game. But, he has an even better defensive game. There is a strong consensus he will play in the NHL. Dorion suggested that he might play this year.

They drafted a power forward that can shoot and score. He has great size and is the 2nd ranked Finn in this draft.

They took a physical, hard nosed stay at home defenseman who plays a a huge game in his own end.

They took a 6" 4" 235 pound over-ager who does not skate well and is not in great physical shape. But he is an elite scorer with magnificent hands. You can get a kid in good condition and you can improve on their skating. But you cannot teach goal scoring instinct and soft hands. This is a project. But it can produce a spectacular outcome.

And, they took a Finnish goalie that nobody has heard of.

So, why did they not take the best offensive player available with each and every pick? Maybe they are trying to build a team to win a Cup.

It seems to me that some the guys who are whining about the Sens drafting defensive and physical players are the same guys who whined when Dorion chose Brady Tkachuk.

Some guys just need to relax and look at the overall result rather than obsessing on the particular of each individual selection.

I love what Dorion has done, last night and today.
- spatso

A+++

I’m not really sure what your point is. Leafs should’ve won that series. Jackets were outshot every game..they had the hotter goalie.

Also, don’t buy too much into that board. Had the Sens selected Byfield, they would’ve shown he’s the 2nd best player on their board.

Same with Sanderson. If he’s selected 4th overall, they’re gna put the guy they pick at 5, as the 4th best player.
- Trilla

Reported (Garrioch) that somebody has a picture of the Sens BPA board (before the draft) and their list was Lafreniere, Stutzle, Byfield, Sanderson, Drysdale.

Beyond Stutzle/Sanderson, I'm virtually stunned as to the lack of promising high-end talent they've managed to select from having 9 picks in the top-90 of an objectively deep draft. Honestly, just take a minute to consider the following 3 groups of prospects with roughly the same positional mix, and consider which sounds like the more promising group...

Group A. Brisson, Peterka, Mysak, Cormier, and Daws
Group B. Bourque, Gunler, Blomqvist, Simontaival, and Poirier
Group C. Greig, Jarventie, Kleven, Sokolov, and Merilainen

For reference, groups A and B were both 100% viable options they could have selected in lieu of the picks they made (i.e. all of those players were available within a few picks of the choices they actually made).

So yeah, that's not too f-ing good.
- khawk

this depresses me :-(

JMO... I honestly have no idea if you're getting a guy that needed a change of scenery OR a player that the league has "figured out". I hate to say it, but I think it's the latter. His glove.....woof. Word on the street in Pittsburgh is he want's like 6+ mil a year. That would be a mistake.

I think the Sens have had an exceptional draft.

They drafted an elite, high skill forward who is the top ranked Europen in this draft.

They drafted a high skilled physical defenseman who is the top ranked American in this draft.

They drafted a character player with their 3rd first round pick. He has a strong offensive game. But, he has an even better defensive game. There is a strong consensus he will play in the NHL. Dorion suggested that he might play this year.

They drafted a power forward that can shoot and score. He has great size and is the 2nd ranked Finn in this draft.

They took a physical, hard nosed stay at home defenseman who plays a a huge game in his own end.

They took a 6" 4" 235 pound over-ager who does not skate well and is not in great physical shape. But he is an elite scorer with magnificent hands. You can get a kid in good condition and you can improve on their skating. But you cannot teach goal scoring instinct and soft hands. This is a project. But it can produce a spectacular outcome.

And, they took a Finnish goalie that nobody has heard of.

So, why did they not take the best offensive player available with each and every pick? Maybe they are trying to build a team to win a Cup.

It seems to me that some the guys who are whining about the Sens drafting defensive and physical players are the same guys who whined when Dorion chose Brady Tkachuk.

Some guys just need to relax and look at the overall result rather than obsessing on the particular of each individual selection.

I love what Dorion has done, last night and today.
- spatso

I think the point most people are making is that this was dubbed a special draft with exceptional high-end skilled forwards through out the first couple of rounds. It seemed the stars aligned with the Sends having so many picks in the first two rounds, and in NEED of more skilled forwards. Then they go out and pick the second rated d-man and a "tough to play against" forward. Both decent prospects but not at where they were chosen, and shouldn't have been over some of the other quality players.

I think the point most people are making is that this was dubbed a special draft with exceptional high-end skilled forwards through out the first couple of rounds. It seemed the stars aligned with the Sends having so many picks in the first two rounds, and in NEED of more skilled forwards. Then they go out and pick the second rated d-man and a "tough to play against" forward. Both decent prospects but not at where they were chosen, and shouldn't have been over some of the other quality players.
- CaliNewf

ottawa needed that all around top pairing D as much as they needed a skilled forward.

ottawa had a lot of high skilled dmen, but a lot of question marks on guys who could actually play D.

thomson and JBD should be good, but they're far from sure things......Sanderson is a can't miss top pairing guy.

ottawa needed a hedman/chara/jones/etc type guy that is all around good, and who can completely shut down other teams top players

they also did get some really high skilled forwards, a couple of them are long shots, but have a poop ton of skill.

also, we do have a lot of skilled top six forward prospects/current NHL plaeyrs

tkachuk, batherson, formenton, norris, stuetzle, duclair, L. brown, abramov....there is tons of skill in that group

Reported (Garrioch) that somebody has a picture of the Sens BPA board (before the draft) and their list was Lafreniere, Stutzle, Byfield, Sanderson, Drysdale.
- spatso

Do you know how many draft boards these guys do?

Do you know how easy it is to fool people?

You do know that they had Trebek do another video if Byfield landed to them, right?

I’m glad you think it’s fate, that everything aligned for the team, but it’s all part of hockey strategy.

ottawa needed that all around top pairing D as much as they needed a skilled forward.

ottawa had a lot of high skilled dmen, but a lot of question marks on guys who could actually play D.

thomson and JBD should be good, but they're far from sure things......Sanderson is a can't miss top pairing guy.

ottawa needed a hedman/chara/jones/etc type guy that is all around good, and who can completely shut down other teams top players

they also did get some really high skilled forwards, a couple of them are long shots, but have a poop ton of skill.

also, we do have a lot of skilled top six forward prospects/current NHL plaeyrs

tkachuk, batherson, formenton, norris, stuetzle, duclair, L. brown, abramov....there is tons of skill in that group
- sensarmy_11

A few days before the draft, my hope was the Sens would be able to draft Byfield, Rossi and Lapierre in the first round.

They ended up with Stutzle, Sanderson and Greig. I have a feeling that when we look back at today from the perspective of the 2021 draft, we will be very happy with Dorion's selections.

Do you know how many draft boards these guys do?

Do you know how easy it is to fool people?

You do know that they had Trebek do another video if Byfield landed to them, right?

I’m glad you think it’s fate, that everything aligned for the team, but it’s all part of hockey strategy.
- Trilla

Look at Sportsnet (Sam Cosentino) draft rankings. The top 5 are identical to how the the Senators evaluated the talent pool.

In fact, in his mock draft Cosentino applied the BPA philosophy to Ottawa and predicted they would end up with Stutzle and Sanderson.

A few days before the draft, my hope was the Sens would be able to draft Byfield, Rossi and Lapierre in the first round.

They ended up with Stutzle, Sanderson and Greig. I have a feeling that when we look back at today from the perspective of the 2021 draft, we will be very happy with Dorion's selections.
- spatso

i'm happy now, don't need the perspective

ottawa came out of the 1st rd with

- arguably the best center
- arguably the best dman
- a good #2 center, who's brutally hard to play against, and who's is compared most often to brad marchand

how anyone can not be happy with that is beyond me. they didn't reach on anyone really......like FFS, CBJ took a guy who no scout had in their top 100, with a top 20 pick.....that's the type of thing people should be pissed at, and even jackets fans aren't female doging as much as a lot of sens fans.

ottawa needed that all around top pairing D as much as they needed a skilled forward.

ottawa had a lot of high skilled dmen, but a lot of question marks on guys who could actually play D.

thomson and JBD should be good, but they're far from sure things......Sanderson is a can't miss top pairing guy.

ottawa needed a hedman/chara/jones/etc type guy that is all around good, and who can completely shut down other teams top players

they also did get some really high skilled forwards, a couple of them are long shots, but have a poop ton of skill.

also, we do have a lot of skilled top six forward prospects/current NHL plaeyrs

tkachuk, batherson, formenton, norris, stuetzle, duclair, L. brown, abramov....there is tons of skill in that group
- sensarmy_11

I don't disagree that Sanderon could pay off in a big way, but him and Chabot can't both be the top pairing Left D.

Unless both wind up playing 25 minutes a night and "split" the duties.

ottawa needed that all around top pairing D as much as they needed a skilled forward.

ottawa had a lot of high skilled dmen, but a lot of question marks on guys who could actually play D.

thomson and JBD should be good, but they're far from sure things......Sanderson is a can't miss top pairing guy.

ottawa needed a hedman/chara/jones/etc type guy that is all around good, and who can completely shut down other teams top players

they also did get some really high skilled forwards, a couple of them are long shots, but have a poop ton of skill.

also, we do have a lot of skilled top six forward prospects/current NHL plaeyrs

tkachuk, batherson, formenton, norris, stuetzle, duclair, L. brown, abramov....there is tons of skill in that group
- sensarmy_11

I think the Athletic summed this up well:

" The Senators had an opportunity to re-shape their first line with two forwards at the top of this draft. Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson are great pieces. So are Shane Pinto Josh Norris, Alex Formenton and the rest. But the difference between prospects like Perfetti and Rossi and those names is a heck of a lot wider than the one between Sanderson and what the Senators already have coming in Thomas Chabot, Erik Brannstrom, Lassi Thomson, and Jacob Bernard-Docker."

Imagine if Sens traded for Pietrangelo rights and signed him 8 year deal $70 million

Thomas Chabot - Alex Pietrangelo
Erik Brannstrom - Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Sanderson - Jacob Bernard Docker

Matt Murray
Marcus Hogberg

I think the Athletic summed this up well:

" The Senators had an opportunity to re-shape their first line with two forwards at the top of this draft. Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson are great pieces. So are Shane Pinto Josh Norris, Alex Formenton and the rest. But the difference between prospects like Perfetti and Rossi and those names is a heck of a lot wider than the one between Sanderson and what the Senators already have coming in Thomas Chabot, Erik Brannstrom, Lassi Thomson, and Jacob Bernard-Docker."
- CaliNewf

If perfetti and rossi are such game changers, why did a bunch of other teams with similar needs pass on them as well?

the athletic is not staffed by scouts and professional hockey people, they aren't at the rinks watching these players.

i'm not saying NHL scouts are infallible, but they're much more qualified to assess players than bloggers who work for the athletic.

They didn't qualify Duclair.

A few days before the draft, my hope was the Sens would be able to draft Byfield, Rossi and Lapierre in the first round.

They ended up with Stutzle, Sanderson and Greig. I have a feeling that when we look back at today from the perspective of the 2021 draft, we will be very happy with Dorion's selections.
- spatso

My two best case Scenarios for our drafts were
First Scenario#3.Byfield #5.Drysdale
Second Scenario #3 Stutzle #5 Rossi

I'm a lot more excited about Stutzle than I thought. I don't mind Sanderson, I think he'll be a good 3/4 D. But I'd say the draft was a bit soured for him knowing that we could have had Drysdale or Rossi.

I'm quite happy with Greig, he was projected to go much sooner.

Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet is the best plugged in commentator in terms of the draft and amateur hockey. His final draft ranking had Stuetzle at #2 and the Sens got him with the 3rd pick. He had Sanderson at #4 and the Sens took him with the 5th pick. Greig was 22nd on the Cosentino list and the Sens took him at 28.

By any measure the Sens did great.

They didn't qualify Duclair.
- Michael_Stuart

was probalby asking for too much, and they were afraid of what an arbitrator would give him.

wonder if him not wanting to sign here had something to do with them not really getting behind him on the HDA/BLM issues

Look at Sportsnet (Sam Cosentino) draft rankings. The top 5 are identical to how the the Senators evaluated the talent pool.

In fact, in his mock draft Cosentino applied the BPA philosophy to Ottawa and predicted they would end up with Stutzle and Sanderson.
- spatso

That’s great. Glad it’s identical, but what does that prove?

There are other lists that show otherwise.
Mckenzies list had Sanderson at 8 and Drysdale at 4

Button had Sanderson at 11 and Drysdale at 4.

Look, it’s simply a difference of opinion. I liked other players at 5. Him and Lundell were the only ones I didn’t want the Sens to take there.