Club still tweaking its list for the NHL draft
The Ottawa Senators have made their list for the NHL draft and now they’re checking it twice.
As the league’s scouting combine wrapped up in Buffalo Saturday with fitness testing at the KeyBank Rink, Senators chief scout Trent Mann said the club has yet to finalize its list for the draft being held at American Airlines Arena June 22-23.
Not only did the Senators want to get through the combine, they’re also doing extra work on eight possibilities for the No. 4 pick. Their wish list could change daily over the next few weeks.
“Each day (in Buffalo) we reconvene and we discuss the players: The ones that were surprising, both positive and negative, and the ones we’re completely happy with and that’s where they should have been,” Mann said before leaving Buffalo Saturday night.
“We’ll continue to tweak. We had those additional meetings we did this week and we’ll follow up with more next week. That information will come into play. I’ll be in contact with our group again to let them know the information we’ve got. The physical testing information is extremely important as well.
“I’ll work with our group to make sure with the information we have (that) a proper decision is made. There’s a lot more information to roll in before a list is set. When you have your meetings, you make a list and you think you have it in a pretty good order, but there’s a lot of manoeuvring based on information that trickles in.”
So when will the final rankings by done?
“Going into Dallas it’ll be pretty close and there’ll be a couple of kids that weren’t here that we’ll want to meet with in Dallas,” said Mann.
If you don’t think those meetings in the final hours before the draft are important, think again. Mann told a story about bringing in prospect Drake Batherson last year in Chicago because he wanted the club’s scouting staff to speak with him.
Yes, Mann knew him well because he watched him play with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in the QMJHL, but it’s always good to get everybody’s opinion. Batherson was selected in the fourth-round by Ottawa and is a blue-chip prospect.
Not only did he help lead Team Canada to a gold medal at the world junior championships in January, the 20-year-old finished with 13 goals and 33 points in 22 playoff games after being dealt to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada at the QMJHL trade deadline.
“Most of our staff knew what we had already if we did pick Drake, but there were a few members who hadn’t had the chance to meet him face-toface,” Mann said. “I thought it was important that they get to meet him face-to-face. That was an important piece.”
Among five players making the trip to Ottawa this week will be Halifax Mooseheads forward Filip Zadina, Brady Tkachuk from Boston University and Barrie forward Andrei Svechnikov. The Senators like all three. “Zadina is a goal scorer. He just likes to score goals and there’s a dynamic side to him and he’s a highly competitive player,” Mann said. “It’s interesting because there seems to be a lot of wingers. Svechnikov would fall in the category of a high-scoring winger that’s competitive as well.
“Tkachuk is a high compete winger, despite his numbers, he was playing against men that are in their 20s as well and has the ability to score. Those three keep getting brought up in conversations at the high end and it’s interesting to see how teams value those players.”
The Senators also own the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round pick at No. 22 they acquired in the Derick Brassard deal, but that could be used to get a secondand third-round pick if the right offer presents itself on draft day. They don’t have a pick in either of those rounds and Dorion did mention he may try to acquire a second-rounder through a trade.
“Historically, second-rounders have been important and valuable,” Mann said. “He did mention that once in an interview that we could look (to trade). That’s a possibility at No. 22 as well — maybe you can move back and get something in the second and third rounds to complement.
“We were short on picks last year, but a lot of that was based on taking our run at the Stanley Cup, and that happens. We don’t have those second- and third-rounders and if there’s a way to acquire (the draft picks) and it makes us better, then we’ll do it. If it doesn’t help us, we’re quite happy staying at No. 4 and No. 22, as well.”
The Senators are excited about draft day because it’s a reward for a bad season and the scouting staff isn’t feeling pressure.
“The scouts enjoy the opportunity to shine,” Mann said. “The organization didn’t have a great season, and there might be a little bit more pressure from that standpoint because no one likes to be wrong, and when you’re picking that night, you can’t be wrong.
“At the same time, when you’re picking that high, can you be completely wrong ? Probably not ... you hope not. All the players are pretty good players and you’re going to get someone, but stranger things have happened and that’s why we go through this process and we’ll follow up with additional meetings.
“We want to make sure we’re comfortable with where we are because that’s the biggest thing going to the draft, being comfortable with where you are and being prepared for different scenarios.”
RUSSIAN POSSIBILITY
If Andrei Svechnikov is available, the Ottawa Senators will consider taking the Barrie Colts winger.
While the Senators haven’t selected a player from Russia since they took Ruslan Bashkirov No. 60 overall in 2007, they’ll certainly think about drafting Svechnikov if he’s there at No. 4.
Svechnikov moved overseas early to spend the 2016-17 campaign with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. Svechnikov, 18, had 40 goals and 72 points in 44 games with Barrie, plus 11 points in eight playoff games.
The top prospect is expected to visit Ottawa for a second look. Svechnikov’s agent, Todd Diamond, said in a text message Sunday the details of a visit to Ottawa are still being worked on but he’ll head to Carolina first.
“Andrei Svechnikov’s a pretty good player, and he’s a Russian player, and if he’s available in the right spot there’s no reason why any team wouldn’t take him — the Ottawa Senators included,” chief scout Trent Mann said Saturday. “For our staff, we’re not really worried about the passport. We’re more worried about getting the best player and that’s how we approach our business. We’ll see what happens. We have interest in Svechnikov as much as (Filip) Zadina, (Brady) Tkachuk and some of those other players. We’re doing our work on him just like other players.
“Right now, it doesn’t really matter if his name is Svechnikov or Zadina, Tkachuk, Quintin Hughes or whoever. When you historically haven’t picked (a Russian player) it might appear that way. But at the same time, there might be 30-some Russians in the whole league among 700 players. A lot of teams don’t have Russians on their team.”
At the same time, when you’re picking that high, can you be completely wrong? Probably not