The Senators picked up some extremely intriguing prospects at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. Only time will tell if they pay off.
Steve Staios’ first NHL Entry Draft is now in the books, and six new prospects have been added to the mix. It’s not hard to notice a pattern emerging.
1) Carter Yakemchuk 1st round RD Calgary Hitmen 6’3” 190 lbs
2) Gabriel Eliasson 2nd round LD Swedish Jr League 6’7” 206 lbs
3) Luke Ellinas 4th round LW Kitchener Rangers 6’2” 198 lbs
4) Javon Moore 4th round LW High School/USHL 6’3” 203 lbs
5) Blake Montgomery 4th round LW USHL 6’4” 180 lbs
6) Eerik Wallenius 5th round LD Finnish SM-Liga 6’4” 211 lbs
At first glance, it would seem that Staios drafted with a view to reshape the landscape of the franchise.
All six players are well over six feet. All three defensemen are 6’3” or more.
First-rounder Carter Yakemchuk not only has size and shoots right, but he also has a flare for the offensive and a penchant for physicality. These are all things that have been cited as glaring holes in the current roster.
Second-rounder Gabriel Eliasson is a left-handed defenceman with size who was characterized by some scouts as the meanest player in the draft. He had 104 PIMs in Sweden! Perhaps this will compensate for his admitted lack of offensive upside.
It’s hard to resist imagining these two being a tandem one day.
The lack of goalies chosen seems to be a vote of confidence for top prospects Mads Sogaard and Levi Merilainen, but also potential prospects yet to be signed, such as Kevin Reidler from the sixth round in 2022 and Vladimir Nikitin from the seventh round in 2023. Kevin Mandolese is still under club control but an RFA this summer.
What also jumps out is the lack of elite scoring ability. Aside from Yakemchuk, a defenceman, none of today’s acquisitions come with a sniper tag. Not yet, anyway. Javon Moore did average two points per game at Minnetonka High School. Time will tell if that translates to the University of Minnesota next season.
It was obvious that the Senators' roster didn’t strike fear into anyone, and as the playoffs unfolded, it was hard to imagine them competing meaningfully in a playoff series against the top eight in the league.
That said, upon further investigation, this draft pattern is not unlike drafts from recent years. Was Staios trying to change the landscape of the franchise this weekend, or was that process already underway?
In the previous four drafts, the Senators drafted only two players, Cameron O’Neill (fifth round in 2022) and Oliver Johansson (third round in 2021), who were less than six feet tall. Even the goalies, Reidler and Nikitin, are 6’6” and 6’4” respectively.
Despite this, the Senators have the label of being soft and undersized. No one cares about the grit of your prospect pool until they come of age.
None of the eggs from the 2023, 2022 and even 2021 drafts have hatched. Given that they had no first-round selections in 2022 or 2023, the Senators are viewed as having one of the league’s worst prospect pools.
The Senators have clearly drafted for size this weekend. It’s important to be able to compete physically and be able to withstand the rigours of the 82-game season and playoffs. It’s also important not to overcorrect by placing a premium on size above all else.
All other factors being equal, having a good balance of size and skill is optimal. History has shown, however, with the likes of Martin St. Louis, Brad Marchand, Erik Karlsson and even now Connor Bedard, that all other factors are often not equal.
Staios has reason to be concerned about how the Senators' physical game matches up. He also needs to be concerned about the lack of pure scoring in the system.
Players like Angus Crookshank, Zack Ostapchuk and Stephen Halliday offer some hope for secondary scoring. However, Belleville doesn’t have anything else to hold up as players who can fill the bill.
The roster remains a work in progress, and hopefully, for Sens fans, the team drafted not only for size and grit this weekend but also for skill.