These are the three defencemen who might all still be on the board when Ottawa picks seventh overall at the NHL Draft next month.
If the Ottawa Senators have their hearts set on a defenceman at next month's NHL Draft, they'll have some good ones to choose from. In the debate between drafting the best player available or drafting for need, these defensemen are perfectly ranked to satisfy both categories for Ottawa.
We'll remove Artyom Levshunov from Michigan State and Anton Silayev from the KHL because most analysts have them gone well before the Sens step up to the mic.
Ottawa will choose seventh overall, and according to Bob McKenzie's rankings, Sam Dickinson of the London Knights, Zayne Parekh of the Saginaw Spirit, and Zeev Buium of the University of Denver are all hovering around that number. At least one of them, perhaps all, should be available to the Sens at seven.
While Ottawa definitely needs help on defence right now, none of these players will be ready to help right now. They won't fill anyone's NHL needs for at least a couple of years.
On McKenzie's list, Dickinson checks in at six. The 17-year-old is six-foot-3, 204 pounds, and had 70 points in 68 games this season. He also helped the Knights win an OHL title with 13 points in 18 games. He brings a good balance of offence and defence.
Parekh is right on the number at 7, and at 6 feet, 181 pounds, he doesn't have Dickinson's size, but his scoring is off the charts. In 66 games this season, Parekh had 33 goals and 96 points. He's also a right shot, which many teams covet, especially the Senators.
Left-shot University of Denver defenceman Zeev Buium rolls in at 8, checking in at 6 feet, 180 pounds, 50 points in 42 games, and an NCAA title this year. His elusiveness with the puck on both the rush and retrieval reminds me of Jake Sanderson, and his clever outlet passes while under heavy pressure and traffic are impressive.
As a wild card, the Sens could also do worse than Carter Yakemchuk, ranked 12th. He's 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, and posted 71 points in 66 games for Calgary. His skating is fine when he's up to speed but may need work on his acceleration.
Yakemchuk has outstanding hands, vision, and an absolute cannon from the point that's already excellent by NHL standards. That's part of the reason why the right shot D led all WHL defencemen with 30 goals. He doesn't mess around either, as evidenced by his five fights and 120 penalty minutes this year.
To recap, those four defencemen had 70 points, 96 points, 50 points, and 71 points this season. To put those numbers into perspective, Thomas Chabot had just 41 points in 66 games in his draft-eligible year. If the Senators want a blue-chip prospect on defence this year, they're right there for the taking.
It's true that an offensive defenceman isn't what this team needs right now, but the NHL Draft provides tomorrow's solutions, not today's.