Now that the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft is complete and the NHL roster/trade freeze is over at 1pm EST today, we can now start looking ahead to the NHL Entry Draft as well as free agency.

The first round of the NHL Draft goes tomorrow night at 8pm EST with rounds 2-7 going on Saturday, starting at 11am EST.

Who will the Ottawa Senators target with their first round pick? Naturally you go with the best player available and not target a specific position. Sitting in the 10 slot, many draft experts say the first 9 picks are most likely skaters then it gets interesting with two high end goalie prospects. Personally, I see the Sens doing a couple of things, but none involve Ottawa selecting a goalie. Depending on things unfold with the first 9 picks, here are a few scenarios that could unfold for Ottawa.

First and foremost, from everything I have read and different hockey people I have talked too, Ottawa really likes Mason McTavish and Brandt Clarke. Both players are local products from the Ottawa area, like former GM Bryan Murray, Pierre Dorion really likes to have a few local products on the Sens roster plus both are high end talent and would improve the Sens roster/depth with all the draft prospects the Sens have drafted over the last few years. Now the problem is, neither player would probably be available at the 10 slot in the draft, unless the Detroit Red Wings select a goalie in the 6 spot. The Wings still regret passing on Spencer Knight a few years ago and GM Steve Yzerman has been rumoured to be looking for a top end goalie in this draft. The Sens could use one of their two 2nd round picks in the draft this year to move up, either selecting McTavish or Clarke. With 11 picks in next year’s entry draft, Ottawa could also use one of those picks as part of a package as well. Or do they stand pat and just take a goalie in the 10 spot, possibly Jesper Wallstedt.

At some point, with all the youth Ottawa has, they need to leverage it and get some experienced players to put them over the top. If you have too many players all in their 3rd year together, you will lose players on waivers for nothing at some point. So why not leverage all the talent they have gathered over the past few years and go trade hunting for the 2 key pieces that owner Eugene Melnyk went on record saying on the Bob McCown podcast awhile back. So let’s look a few scenarios that could play out over the coming days and weeks ahead.

Could Ottawa trade one of their two 2nd round picks and a prospect to Buffalo for center Sam Reinhart. He could be a short term solution at the center ice position until Shane Pinto gets more experience playing in the AHL. The Sens don’t want to rush him like they did with Curtis Lazar or Colin White. As Troy Mann, the head coach of the AHL’s Belleville Senators has said a few times on local radio in Ottawa, it’s better to overbake a prospect than rush him. Could that prospect be Logan Brown? It’s an interesting discussion to have as moving on from Brown with a draft pick to bring in a short term solution like Reinhart, it would definitely give Ottawa some option up the middle to with Josh Norris and Colin White. Norris, Reinhart and White as your top centers for next season would make many Sens fans happy.

The other option at center that Ottawa is looking hard at is Adam Henrique. Now with 3 years left on his deal at 5.8 per season, that isn’t an attractive number for Ottawa. But Anaheim has placed the veteran center on waivers last year and have said to be willing to eat some of his salary. Henrique at say 2.9 million per season looks alot more appealing. Plus DJ Smith and Henrique go back to their junior days in Windsor together. Much like the acquisition of Josh Brown last year, whom DJ had in Oshawa back in 2015, I can see DJ in Dorion’s ear for a player he feels he knows well and will fit into his system. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Connor Brow and Nick Paul played well with Henrique at this year’s World Hockey Championships.

I don’t see Ryan Strome or Christian Dvorak a fit in Ottawa. Two players that have been rumoured to Ottawa. Dvorak in particular makes no sense. Ottawa already Colin White with 4 years left on his deal, the Sens don’t need another center with 4 years left and even more dollars at 5 million cash per year, even though it’s a 4 million cap hit. Ottawa isn’t in the market for a contract that pays out more than the actual cap hit.

Lastly, another player Ottawa is looking to possibly add is Jaden Schwartz from the St. Louis Blues. Brady Tkachuk has spoke highly of him and with Brady living in St. Louis in the off-season plus his dad being a scout with the Blues, there is a direct connection here that has legs to it. I know Ottawa would rather strengthen RW over the LW position, but Schwartz sure would look good in a Sens uniform on a short term deal. Again, a fun discussion to have as we head into the weekend.

Tomorrow’s blog I will be looking at potential top 4 defenseman targets for Ottawa plus a look at the Sens 2021-22 schedule, with the release set for tonight at 8pm EST.

Kevin

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