Senators looking for skill, compete with first-round pick in 2025 NHL Draft
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For the second straight year, the Ottawa Senators will pick in the first round of the NHL Draft.
The Senators did not have a first-round pick in 2022 and 2023, but with the seventh-overall pick last year, they took Calgary Hitmen defenceman Carter Yakemchuk. The 19-year-old had 17 goals and 49 points in 56 games last season in the WHL.
Ottawa has six selections in the upcoming draft that goes from June 27-28 in Los Angeles, including the No. 21 selection.
“I know what I’d like to get at No. 21, but I think we’re going to find we’re going to find some skill, and some compete at that level,” Senators chief amateur scout Don Boyd told Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. “They might not check all the boxes of a complete player that fills five or six boxes or checkpoints that we think the complete player is made up of.
“But we’re going to get somebody that’s skilled and competitive and will bring that to the lineup in the future. Not everybody has the same path to the NHL. Every player is different. Some will take a little longer than others, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be as impactful or as important as a player who was taken a little earlier.
“That goes without saying that some of the players taken a little later could be more impactful than the ones taken earlier. That’s every year.”
TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie’s midseason rankings had four centres ranked in the Senators’ range in Ivan Ryabkin (No. 19), Cullen Potter (No. 20), Braeden Cootes (No. 22) and Jack Nesbitt (No. 23).
TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button had defencemen Kashawn Aitcheson (No. 16) and Cameron Reid (No. 19) within reach on his May draft ranking, as well as wingers Cameron Schmidt (No. 17), Bill Zonnon (No. 21) and Carter Bear (No. 24).
Since their banner 2020 draft when they landed Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson and Ridly Greig in the first round, the Senators have struggled to graduate players to the NHL full time.
In the past four drafts, Ottawa has had only one player play an NHL game, winger Zack Ostapchuk, who was taken in the second round (39th overall) in 2021. Ostapchuk has bounced between the NHL and AHL the last two seasons and was dealt to the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline as part of the deal that brought Fabian Zetterlund to Ottawa.
As part of the punishment for the failed Evgenii Dadonov trade to Vegas in 2022, the Senators were given an option to forfeit a first-round pick in either 2025 or 2026. General manager Steve Staios confirmed the team would keep the No. 21 selection with next year’s being forfeited.
While the annual Combine remains in Buffalo at KeyBank Center, this year’s draft will have the top 50 prospects in attendance in Los Angeles, with each team sending one representative as scouts and front office staff will remain in their respective cities.
Despite the change in format, Boyd says the team continues to do its due diligence and the team’s draft list will continue to change and evolve.
“The list, for me, is a living, breathing animal,” Boyd. “We’ll continue to make changes. We’ll even get together after the first round on Friday night and make changes.”