One word to describe today's NHL Draft at the Prudential Center: Crazy! However, in saying this I'd simply be stating things most of you already knew. There was much speculation leading up to the draft this past week as questions arose such as, who would get picked #1 overall?Would there be any insane trades ?What team would take who? Fortunately, as fans, we got a taste of just about everything.
Today, the Ottawa Senators management team led by Owner, Eugene Melnyk, GM Bryan Murray, and Assistant GM, Tim Murray went down to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ in hopes of leaving with some valuable assets. For about a week and a half, much speculation revolved around GM Bryan Murray as he made it clear that he wanted to try and make his way up into the top 10. However, Murray stated that it seemed "unlikely" due to the asking price for the picks. Many questions revolved Bryan Murray as he has become a draft genius these past couple of years. Going into today, the Senators held seven picks to their name:
-17th overall pick
-78th overall pick
-102nd overall pick
-108th overall pick
-138th overall pick
-161st overall pick
-168th overall pick
There was a lot of bark in this year's draft and I mean A LOT, however on the Senators' side of the table, there was no bite, as Ottawa didn't make a move all night. Ottawa kept all seven picks. I am not too knowledgeable with all of their draft selections, but I will do my best to give my thoughts on the selections.
With the 17th overall pick, the Ottawa Senators select Curtis Lazar
What I DO know about Curtis Lazar is that he's a very talented player at the age of 18 coming out of the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings. Lazar was a two way Center but mostly considered a Power Forward by many scouts. Lazar is a very gritty player, who will get a forecheck going, and if placed on a top line, will produce points. Not only is Lazar known for his ability to get a forecheck going and stepping in for his teammates when needed, but he also has a scoring touch which a lot of Power Forwards don't have in the NHL. At the age of 18, and having those abilities, you can never go wrong. The big question is how does he translate his play from the WHL to the NHL? Time will only tell, but Lazar will most definitely be eager for the start of training camp and look to earn a starting job in the NHL come this upcoming Fall.
Here are some highlights from Curtis Lazar during the 2012-2013 campaign.
With the 78th overall pick, the Ottawa Senators selected G, Marcus Hogberg.
Midway into Round 3, the Senators selected Swedish goaltender, Marcus Hogberg. The young goaltender will be moved into the AHL most likely next season as Robin Lehner will be up in the NHL full-time as a backup to Craig Anderson this upcoming season, so it makes sense to take Hogberg while he's up there. According to NHL.com, he was ranked 4/10 in European goalies. While Hogberg's numbers don't clearly stand out to you, he did manage to have a respectable .917 save percentage, and he will only get better from here with the same goaltending coach that trained Robin Lehner, Craig Anderson, and Ben Bishop.
With the 102nd overall pick, the Ottawa Senators selected RW, Tobias Lindberg.
The Sens loved the Swedes in this year's draft as they selected another one in Tobias Lindberg. To be honest, I don't know too much about Lindberg other than the fact that he's a very young forward who was chosen with the pick that came from the trade with Tampa Bay for Bishop at the Trade Deadline last season. You'd have to figure Ottawa sends him overseas to continue to develop his game before he comes on to the AHL.
With the 108th overall pick, the Ottawa Senators selected D, Ben Harpur.
Honestly, this may have been my favorite pick for the Senators this afternoon. In Ben Harpur, they get a 6'6, 210 pound defenseman who can move the puck and shoot it on net. You cannot teach size in the sports world, and fortunately the Senators got lucky that he fell right into their hands in the 4th round. Give this kid about 2-3 years to develop and watch him come into the NHL impressing people left and right. I really loved this selection! Kudos to Bryan Murray!
With the last 3 picks(138th,161st,181st) of the NHL Draft overall pick, the Ottawa Senators selected C, Vincent Dunn, RW Chris LeBlanc, and C, Quentin Shore.
For times sake, and not to bore my audience I figured I'd save the last three selections and combine them all into one. It is quite interesting to see how many Centers Ottawa took here. This most likely mean that he may be concerned about this certain position for the future, or simply may want to move current Centers such as Zibanejad to the wing to spread the offense out. I guess time will tell, but overall, I think it was a decent draft for Ottawa.
Random Thoughts:
- How about Schneider going to New Jersey?!
I, personally did not see this coming at all. You figure Marty has at least 1-2 more years left in his tank, and Hedberg isn't getting any younger so you figured they'd address the future through draft, but I didn't see them chasing Schneider. I, personally think it's a great move for the Devils simply because it gives them stability in net and it reduces the workload in net for aging netminder, Martin Brodeur. The Devils also selected Anthony Brodeur, son of Martin Brodeur with their final pick in the draft for New Jersey. Overall, I think they had a great draft.
- Seth Jones drops to 4th and ends up in Nashville!
Considering this was my first time actually paying close attention to the draft and every minute detail to it, I figured that Seth Jones would go 2nd overall to Florida. INSTEAD, he drops to 4th overall, and lands in Nashville. Now, the first thing that popped into my head was, a Shea Weber-Seth Jones defensive pairing. A pairing like that can cause some serious damage to the opposition. Seth Jones lucked out and got the best defensive partner possible in Shea Weber.
This was one of the most exciting drafts I've ever witnessed, which gets me even more excited to see what happens come July 5th. Big decisions up ahead for the Sens!
Thanks for reading!
