The Senators used their first pick (108th overall) to select Cornell commit Hoyt Stanley
The Senators used their first pick (108th overall) to select Cornell commit Hoyt Stanley
For three rounds, the Ottawa Senators amateur scouting team sat quietly at their draft table in Nashville. They picked up the phone here and there but made absolutely no picks or trades and watched 107 NHL draft picks come and go.
Today, with the 108th overall pick, they finally got their turn to make a 2023 selection.
The club, which had traded away their first, second and third-round selections, opted for Hoyt Stanley, a 6-foot-2, 187-pound right-shot defenceman out of the BCHL. Wearing the fairly loud number 88, Stanley had 38 points in 53 games for the Vancouver Grizzlies.
With this being the first time Ottawa's first pick has ever fallen this late in the draft, combined with a bored Ottawa media starved for news, Stanley probably got more draft-day attention than any fourth-rounder in club history.
Stanley was asked to describe his style of game in a feature on the BCHL website.
"I think I’m a two-way defenceman who is fast and has a high hockey IQ. I can contribute in all situations," Stanley said. "At the pro level, I think I could play an all-around game."
About to become an Ivy Leaguer, Stanley's IQ isn't in question. He's committed to play at Cornell University next season.
"Cornell is a great fit for me because it’s a great hockey program that develops players really well and they’re competitive every year," Stanley told the BCHL website. "They’re also a really good school – an Ivy League education. My family and I value education as well. It’s a great combination of academics and athletics."
Jamie and Jordie Benn, Tyler Bozak and Alex Newhook, who was traded to the Montreal Canadiens this week, are a few of the more famous Grizzly alumni to make it to the NHL.
Seems like Stanley has all the tools to be a player someday. You never can tell for sure with a fourth rounder, of course. For every Drake Batherson or J.G. Pageau, there are probably ten Senator fourth rounders who didn't make it.
But when you select a guy whose name sounds like "Hoist Stanley," there's just too much good karma for a pick like that to fail.
Senators 2023 Draft Class
108: D Hoyt Stanley, Vancouver Grizzles (BCHL)
140: D Matthew Andonovski, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
204: F Owen Beckner, Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)
207: G Vladimir Nikitin, Team Kazakhstan (BCHL in 23/24)
215: F Nicholas Vantassell, Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)