Unlike past management, the Senators showed last season they have no issues with drafting Russian prospects.
At the 2025 NHL Draft, the Ottawa Senators did something completely out of character. They drafted not one, but two Russian players. With GM Steve Staios running draft day for only the second time in his NHL career, it signalled an end to the Russian resistance in Ottawa.
Before that, from 2008-2024, the Senators selected a grand total of one Russian player. In the lucrative 2020 Draft, where Pierre Dorion was flush with picks in the first two rounds, he decided to take a flyer on QMJHL overager Egor Sokolov, Drake Batherson's former Cape Breton teammate.
In that era, led by Bryan Murray, then Dorion, and their unofficial co-GM, Eugene Melnyk, the group was clearly hesitant to draft Russians. Because the NHL and KHL didn't have any sort of agreement, it was common for Russian players to stay home if things over here weren't to their liking.
Start in the minors and work my way up? Nah.
In the three drafts from 2003-2005, they chose seven Russians, three of them in the second round. None of them panned out, and most stayed in Russia. After drafting another Russian in the second round in 2007, who also didn't play, they had seen enough, and with that, 17 years of resistance was underway.
The early Senators weren't particularly enthusiastic either. That may have been the effect of Alexei Yashin, the Sens ' first-ever draft pick, whose perennial discontent was as enormous as his skill. After Yashin, they only dabbled in Russian picks (seventh round or later) for the rest of the 1990s. Petr Schastlivy (4th round, 1998) was the only exception.
Regardless of era, there also hasn't been any kind of track record of success when they did turn their attention to Russians. After Yashin and Anton Volchenkov, and to a far lesser degree Petr Schastlivy, the Sens have had no Russian success stories at the draft.
Zilch. Nada. Nyet.
Alexei Yashin, 1992, 1st Round, 2nd Overall, Centre, 504 GP
Sergei Polischuk, 1993, 7th Round, 157th Overall, Defence
Petr Schastlivy, 1998, 4th Round, 101st Overall, Left Wing, 107 GP
Sergei Verenkin, 1998, 8th Round, 223rd Overall, Centre
Konstantin Gorovikov, 1999, 9th Round, 269th Overall, Winger
Anton Volchenkov, 2000, 1st Round, 21st Overall, Defence, 428 GP
Alexei Kaigorodov, 2001, 2nd Round, 47th Overall, Centre, 6 GP
Vitaly Atyushov, 2002, 9th Round, 276th Overall, Defence
Sergei Gimayev, 2003, 5th Round, 166th Overall, Defence
Igor Mirnov, 2003, 2nd Round, 67th Overall, Centre
Kirill Lyamin, 2004, 2nd Round, 58th Overall, Defence
Alexander Nikulin, 2004, 4th Round, 122nd Overall, Centre, 2 GP
Vitali Anikeyenko, 2005, 2nd Round, 70th Overall, Defence
Dmitry Megalinsky, 2005, 6th Round, 186th Overall, Defence
Ilya Zubov, 2005, 3rd Round, 98th Overall, Centre, 11 GP
Ruslan Bashkirov, 2007, 2nd Round, 60th Overall, Left Wing
Egor Sokolov, 2020, 2nd Round, 61st Overall, Left Wing, 13 GP
Dmitri Isayev, 2025, 5th Round, 149th Overall, Left Wing
Andrei Trofimov, 2025, 7th Round, 213th Overall, Goaltender
In Staios' first draft in 2024, he went after size. But last year, in round 5, he bucked both that trend and the Russian trend by going after a tiny, highly-skilled Russian forward in Dmitri Isayev.
Henry Brown from Sens Prospects, who follows Sens picks as closely as anyone, describes Isayev as the most fascinating prospect in Ottawa's system.
If last year's two selections mean Staios has ended the organization's aversion to Russian players, there are some Russian options who may still be on the board when the Sens pick at 32.
For example, in his January ranking, THN's Ryan Kennedy had Victoriaville centre Yegor Shilov right on Ottawa's number at 32. Shilov is a left-shot centre who checks in at 6 feet, 181 pounds. As a 17-year-old (turned 18 on April 30), Shilov had 82 points in 63 games in the Q.
Not for nothing, but when has Ottawa ever misfired on a first-rounder from the Victoriaville Tigres?
If Staios trends back to size and physicality, THN's Tony Ferarri also has a Russian ranked at 32. He's got wrecking ball right winger Gleb Pugachyov right on Ottawa's number.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound winger had 24 points in 33 games, but his physical abuse of the junior ranks was irresistible, so he was called to play in the KHL for 13 games with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.
Ferrari also has high scoring Saginaw Spirit winger Nikita Klepov (97 pts in 67 games) at #33.
That's not to say any of these players will be Ottawa's choice, but with the Russian resistance now apparently behind them, it makes the pool of available amateur talent just a little bit deeper at this month's draft.
And that can only help to increase the odds of picking a winner.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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