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All options are on the table.
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But if the Ottawa Senators decide to use the No. 7 selection of the NHL draft — set for July 7 at the Bell Center in Montreal — the club will leave the draft with a strong prospect for the future.
While Trent Mann has to be prepared for any scenario presented by general manager Pierre Dorion in the days leading up to the annual crapshoot, the Senators’ chief scout is confident the club will end up with another strong asset if they decide to make the selection .
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“We’ll be fine. I know there’s been discussions about how good the draft is but the reality the draft doesn’t consist of a (Connor) McDavid or a (Sidney) Crosby type of player,” Mann told this newspaper from his New Brunswick home in an interview before he left for the IIHF world championship Thursday.
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“At this point, it certainly doesn’t look that way. Anything can happen, but you eliminate that piece and then you go ahead to the rest of the players. And there’s a number of them that are going to be really good players. There’s plenty available for us at No. 7. There’s a wide variety of what (kind of player) that could be. There will be a lot of scenarios we’d love to see.
“Because there’s no consensus at the top it could go in a lot of different directions very quickly.”
The Senators will start their scouting meetings May 23 at the Canadian Tire Center. They’ll wrap them up later in the week then several members of the staff will head to Buffalo for the NHL Combine being held from June 1-to-6 at the KeyBank Center.
Mann noted there will be some healthy arguments amongst the scouting staff when it comes to settling on a final list for the draft which will wrap up July 8 with rounds 2-through-7. The Senators have five picks in the first three rounds and 11 overall so there will be several options.
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Mann said the club’s first-round selection will need time to develop.
“It’s unlikely the player we will take will step into the lineup next year,’ he said. “This draft will be more about, depending on who the player is, what their situation is for next year and where they’ll be, it will be more about us setting up the development plan for them.
“You have to be willing to switch gears on a development plan but when you get to No. 7 you still have to think maybe it’s year, two or three (for that player to be in the NHL). You won’t know but I do believe there are some players in this draft who may have a chance after one year to have some impact for you.
“I believe we’re at a point where we don’t need to be rushed with these players and we can really be patient of going through the development process to help them along. When they’re ready to come to the NHL, they’ll be ready.”
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The Senators have done a strong job with drafting and development. The core of this team is built around the likes of Captain Brady Tkachuk, alternate Thomas Chabot along with Tim Stuetzle, Drake Batherson and Alex Formenton.
Center Josh Norris was acquired in the Erik Karlsson deal with the Sharks, but he’s come up through Ottawa’s system. Defenseman Jake Sanderson, the No. 5 pick in 2020, will make his NHL debut next season while Mark Kastelic, Egor Sokolov, Viktor Lodin, Roby Jarventie, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Lassi Thomson have made strides with the club’s AHL affiliate in Belleville.
“There’s a bunch knocking on the door,” said Mann. “Some guys have made excellent development of the course of the year. They’re pushing current players for spots. The draft and development is important to us. We’ve done a solid job.”
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There’s been no shortage of talk the Senators may move the No. 7 selection for immediate help.
Dorion cut his teeth as an NHL scout and he’s spent a lot of time seeing the top prospects in advance of the scouting meetings so he has a good handle on the list. He’s overseas with Mann to get a look at the draft eligible players in the tourney.
The reality is Dorion knows the importance of keeping draft picks so the chance of the No. 7 selection being moved is 50/50 and may be less.
“It’s not easy to pull that off either. When you start going back analyzing year-by-year trades, it’s not easy. To say GM’s are willing to do it isn’t true because they’re willing,” Mann said. “They’re always willing to listen and evaluate what’s on the table.
“(Dorion) has to know from us what we’re thinking at No. 7 and what’s the value of that. Who are we talking about? That’s why he’s wanted to get out and see those kids so when we’re talking then we’re able to make a decision.
“You can’t get something without giving up something. That’s just the nature of business. At some point, that will happen. Is it this year? We’ll see. We’re still going to get a really good player at No. 7 so you don’t give those kids away either.”
