Modifié 30 juin 2022 à 18 h 3
So Pronman’s full 7 round mock draft is out now, and while I think Wright at 4oa is stupid and wrong, I did really end up liking how it turns out for Ottawa. Picking up Matthew Savoie at 7 (him or Kemell are my top 2 choices if none of the presumptive top 6 fall, and I’d be happy with either) and then Maveric Lamoureux at 39 (I really think this pick should be used on a RHD and Lamoureux is one of the most intriguing, especially with Salomonsson and Luneau gone as they are in this mock draft) is a great start, and would totally make up for last year’s bungling imo.
Savoie would slot perfectly alongside Tkachuk and Norris as the skilled playmaker on that line to complement Norris the sniper and Tkachuk the power forward in front of the net. His drive and motor are things the Sens probably like, despite being undersized. He’s also got a great shot. I think he’d probably fit better on that line than with Stutzle, although having two supremely skilled guys play with each other never hurts. Luckily Batherson has shown some chemistry on both lines. Pronman made this pick because he heard that Ottawa had interest in the Winnipeg Ice boys. I really REALLY hope that doesn’t mean Geekie at 7, that was my fear all year and I’d only just managed to convince myself that it wasn’t happening lol. Savoie would be a great pick though.
Lamoureux is huge and physical. He’s also relatively mobile for his size and has a massive shot, plus performed well at the combine. He’s exactly what you want in a 3RD and has top 4 upside if his ability to move the puck develops well. A third pair of Kleven-Lamoureux would be an absolute nightmare to face in like 5-6 years, kinda like Calgary’s very good third pair of Zadorov-Gudbranson this year.
While the first two picks were great, Pronman even threw me a bone by having the Sens take Jordan Dumais at 72, who I think is criminally underrated despite being tiny. He’s one of the few truly diminutive, highly skilled players that I actually like (I think I’m famously against these guys most of the time lol, because I think far more of them turn out like Bracco than Gaudreau) but Dumais is one of the few exceptions for me, because I just think his skill is so far off the charts that he’ll find a way to compete in a top 6 role, or at least has a better shot than most skill players his size. Like he was 3rd in QMJHL points (10th in goals, T-1st in assists) as a draft eligible player this year, which is crazy.
Pronman did have a more classic Sens pick at 64 in Devin Kaplan who looks like a big, competitive, decently skilled bruiser (wow sounds kinda familiar, hope they don’t use a top 10 pick on him). He does have issues with his skating and major inconsistency though, which is fine for the late 2nd I guess, but I woulda preferred Gleb Trikozov, Vinzenz Rohrer, or Tyler Brennan here personally.
The rest of the draft isn’t too important, but looks like a Sens draft. Miko Mattika is another big winger with a good shot and skating/inconsistency/compete issues. He’s not a guy you reach for, but at pick 87 he’s the type of forward with NHL tools that I don’t mind as a project. I still woulda taken Vinzenz Rohrer, Mason Beaupit, or Servac Petrovsky there though. He did take a goalie, which is expected with the number of picks Ottawa has, and while Andrew Oke wasn’t great, he does have decent size and was playing on a terrible Saginaw team. Marek Hejduk and Luke Mittelstadt are fun with recognizable names.
I think it was interesting that he took 2 small, highly skilled players with Ottawa’s first 4 picks, because Ottawa’s emphasis has been heavily on size recently. It makes sense that Ottawa could use this draft to take advantage of Savoie and Dumais going slightly lower than they maybe should because of their size due to Ottawa already being a massive team. Tkachuk, Batherson, and Formenton are all established top 9 forwards at 6’3”+, and none of Stutzle, Norris, Pinto, or Joseph are smaller than 6’1”, plus guys like Sokolov, Jarventie, and Boucher are on the way, and bring plenty of size as well. So Ottawa can totally afford to grab a couple skill guys with super high upside and be safe in the knowledge that they will be well-protected and basically free to create as they please out there. I do wonder if this is the route they end up going though. I would for sure be on board with it, but I’m not sold the team wants to go in that direction, but I’m prepared to be surprised.