If the Ottawa Senators are truly seeking a bona fide second-line centre to play behind Jason Spezza next season, do they really think they’re going to find him at the draft in Minnesota this weekend?
For goodness sake, let’s hope not. Expecting an 18-year-old to come out of junior hockey and fill that role in a market where his every move will be scrutinized is just asking for a case of arrested development – even when you’re talking about what might be the sixth-best draft-eligible player in the world.
The Senators go into St. Paul, Minn., with the sixth-overall pick and a desire to move into the top five. In that respect, they can join the club. Everybody wants to move up but few manage to. So for kicks and giggles, let’s just assume they stay where they are.
That probably means they’ll miss out on the likes of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Larsson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Sean Couturier and Gabriel Landeskog. That could change if the New Jersey Devils, who pick fourth, pass on Couturier. Speculation is they like Couturier, but if they change their mind he could easily fall to the Senators.
Couturier’s stock dropped this season despite playing for Canada at the world juniors. He is a big man and could help teams in need of strength and power down the middle. There are concerns about his skating, but his ability to protect the puck down low and play a cycle game has scouts excited.
Couturier is certainly not the only centre available. Ryan Strome of the Niagara Ice Dogs finished third in scoring in the Ontario Hockey League this past season, going from 27 points in 2009-10 to 106 in 2010-11.
A dark-horse candidate is Swedish centre Mika Zibanejad, who put in a very good showing playing 25 games for Djurgarden in the Swedish Elite League this past season. He’s a big body and while he doesn’t play a particularly physical game, he does drive hard to the net and has power-forward tendencies.
The Senators have David Runblad and Jared Cowen ready to challenge for spots on defence, which likely deters them from going off the board and taking a high-risk/high-reward blueliner such as Ryan Murphy of the Kitchener Rangers. Dougie Hamilton of the Niagara Ice Dogs has an offensive bent, but is seen as much more of a two-way defenceman.
The Senators will almost certainly get a very good future NHL player this weekend. But to expect that future to materialize as soon as next season might be a little too much to ask.
