SENATORS HAVE TIME TO DECIDE FATE OF NO. 7 SPOT
With plenty of picks and prospects in the pipeline, club could go after veteran talent
Will the Ottawa Senators keep their top pick in the NHL draft or will it get moved?
Stay tuned because it's going to take a while.
The Senators earned the No. 7 selection in the NHL draft when the lottery balls dropped Tuesday night in New York and now the big decision for general manager Pierre Dorion is to determine whether to keep the pick or trade it for immediate help.
Having missed the playoffs five straight years, the Senators have stocked the shelves with five picks in the first three rounds of the July 7-8 draft at the Bell Centre in Montreal, plus they've got a cupboard full of prospects already in the organization.
Given the fact chief scout Trent Mann and his staff have done an excellent job restocking the shelves since late owner Eugene Melnyk and Dorion opted to go the rebuild route in February 2018, you can trust the Senators will get a top-end prospect with the No. 7 pick.
But Dorion noted at his endof-season news conference that if the Senators didn't win the lottery, then he'd be open for business with the selection to see if he could get immediate help for the club's roster next season.
Dorion is focused on getting ready for the draft. He headed overseas Wednesday to attend the IIHF World Championship tournament that opens Friday in Helsinki and Tampere, Finland.
He'll get to see some of the top-rated prospects. He's already seen most of them at least once, but this will be another opportunity in a competitive environment. There are several players rated in the top 10 who will be at the tourney.
“There's draft-eligible kids on these teams and you've got your normal European free agents,” said a league executive Wednesday.
In his post-lottery mock draft, Craig Button, a former NHL general manager and TSN's director of scouting, had the Senators taking forward Cutter Gauthier of the U.S. National Development Team program.
The six-foot-two Gauthier had 34 goals and 65 points in 54 games this season.
“He's a big-time winger, with a big-time shot and he only needs one of them to score,” said Button. “When you can add size and skill to your lineup, that's something that's really significant. Cutter Gauthier is one of the most improved players from last season to this year.
“It would be significant for the Senators to add another player there.”
No trade involving the No. 7 pick is imminent so you shouldn't sit by your phone expecting news regarding the selection in the near future. If indeed Dorion does deal the No. 7 pick, it's more likely to happen the night before the first round in Montreal or on the draft floor itself.
That's when GMs are more engaged in trying to reshape their rosters for camp in September. Many believe they'll get their best offers at the draft because valuable picks are in play and there may be a dance partner trying to make major changes.
The Senators have a couple of areas they'd like to address heading into next season.
They'd like to find a top-six forward to play on the right side of skilled centre Tim Stuetzle. The club might also pursue another top-four blueliner. University of North Dakota prospect Jake Sanderson will make his NHL debut next season and he could be the answer.
The club also acquired veteran defenceman Travis Hamonic from the Vancouver Canucks at the March 21 deadline and he's pencilled in to be in the top four. A decision has to be made on the future of veteran blueliner Nikita Zaitsev, but the belief is the Senators will try to move him.
Up front, it's a different story. Connor Brown played with Stuetzle most of the season, but isn't the answer because of the lack of offensive consistency.
The Senators have been linked to Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala and he's a possibility on the trade market.
There will be no shortage of teams interested in the pick and the Senators won't be the only team looking to make a move with their top selection. New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald could be open to the idea of moving his No. 2 selection as well.
“Picks are worth less just before the trade deadline and they're worth more just before the draft,” said the executive. “There's been situations where teams have got a player for a top 10 pick, so it's not out of the question
“It's been done, especially if there's a team that needs to move some money and they've got a need to make something happen.”
The best route for Dorion and the Senators right now is to practice patience with the No. 7 pick, because once the first round of the playoffs have wrapped up there will be teams looking to make changes because perhaps they're not pleased with an early exit.
If the Senators go the free agent route, then they'll make a pitch to Florida Panthers forward Claude Giroux whether he wins a Stanley Cup this spring or not. The 34-year-old Giroux would be the perfect mentor for Stuetzle and Josh Norris and he's an unrestricted free agent.