And then there were none.
The Senators had three first round picks in the 2011 Entry draft, the first one after the decision was made to rebuild for the first time since the "glory days" of the franchise, after the string of consecutive playoff appearances was snapped at 11.
That was supposed to be the draft that vaulted the Senators back on the road to competitiveness, and now they have nothing to show for it. Well not nothing, but after Matt Puempel was claimed on waivers today, the Senators have none of the players they selected in that first round in the organization any more.
Stefan Noeson, the 21st overall pick was part of the Bobby Ryan trade in the summer of 2013. He has played only 2 NHL games, so five years after being drafted he could probably be considered a bust and not a big loss.
Mika Zibanejad, who was taken 6th overall was traded to the Rangers last summer for Derick Brassard. He was off to a solid start to his season but broke his leg last night and it looks like the Rangers turned to the Senators for a free roster replacement, Puempel.
It wasn't exactly the deepest draft, or the top-heaviest for that matter, to plant your flag of rebuild on. Now all the Senators have left are question marks surrounding Ryan, as to whether he will ever get to the level the Senators need him to play at, and at least in the short term, Brassard who is struggling to find his form on his hometown team.
Peumpel couldn't find a consistent role in the Senators lineup. While some would argue he wasn't given much of a chance, he didn't do much to seize the opportunity when it was presented. With Curtis Lazar seemingly back for good, the Senators likely thought they could sneak Puempel back to Binghamton unclaimed, and he almost made it through (NYR are third in league standings so he cleared 26 other teams) but the Rangers saw something they think they can work with.
So the top 4 picks by the Senators in that draft (including 2nd round pick Shane Prince who was dealt to the Islanders last season) are now gone from the organization. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Freddie Claesson, Max McCormick and perhaps the steal of the draft, Ryan Dzingel, are still around. Dzingel was 204th out of 211 players picked (Ondrej Palat was also a steal at 208), and has now been told he will be here for the season.
Puempel might not end up being a big loss in the grand scheme of things, but a team without much depth losing an asset for nothing isn't smart, and it must have come as a bit of a surprise to the Senators management.