Speculation: If we'd drafted differently.

[Frank8]

A futile, late summer exercise: I took a look at who we could have drafted from 2007 until 2014 and what our team would have looked like with the benefit of hindsight. In most cases, the players would have been available even with much lower draft positions. For instance, Jake Muzzin is still available despite Jamie Benn's impact on the team's standings. I only kept Stone and Karlsson but happy to swap in Zibby, Hoff, and Silfverberg. Pointless, I know, but at least I didn't force anyone to relive not picking Kopitar...

Gaudreau Benn Tarasenko
Tatar Stepan Nyquist
Saad ROR Simmonds
Palat Henrique Kucherov
Jenner Stone

Muzzin Karlsson
Maatta Subban
Klingberg Vatanen
Braun (why not?)

Andersen
Vaslievski

AHL: Teravainen, Gostisbehere, Burakovsky, Pasternak and Darling.

Click to read more...

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Draft Loui Eriksson instead of Patrick Eaves in 2003
Draft Kopitar instead of Lee in 2005

If we also managed to not trade Havlat

Heatley-Spezza-Alfie
Eriksson-Kopitar-Havlat

2006-2007, Stanley Cup champions.

 

[SixthSens]

I don't even think that would be feasible with the cap & considering the salaries these players are at now.

 

[Frank8]

The cap hit is close to $100,000,000 but they all take friendly contracts to win every year.

 

[Frank8]

Draft Loui Eriksson instead of Patrick Eaves in 2003
Draft Kopitar instead of Lee in 2005

If we also managed to not trade Havlat

Heatley-Spezza-Alfie
Eriksson-Kopitar-Havlat

2006-2007, Stanley Cup champions.

Still one goaltender short.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I know this is a Sens board, but I was looking a while back at how different the Oilers team would look if they drafted the player that was taken right after each of their picks. We all know they have drafted terribly over the years, but look who they could of had if they took the player right after their pick(ill do over past 12 years or so)....

Pacioretty-Seguin-Voracek
Landeskog-Eichel-Toffoli
Radulov-Bennett-Bjorkstrand
Arvidsson-Kesler-Stempniak

Murray-Ristolainen
Ellis-Murphy

Crawford
Schneider
Enroth
Pickard

Pretty impressive group just through drafting IF they took the next player drafted after their picks

 

[Frank8]

This is way more interesting/tragic than what I posted.

 

[Sun God Nika]

Lol thats hilarious

 

[FlyingJ]

Sigh, we took Ruslan Bashkirov at 60th overall in 2007, then the Kings took Wayne Simmonds at 61st.

Bashkirov flies off back to Russia before the start of the next season because his twin brother didn't get drafted. Was also rumoured that their dad was a big factor in this too. Good grief.

Could have also taken Subban at 29th that year instead of Jim O'Brien. The 2007 draft was not good for the team, largely because Murray had only been promoted to GM a few weeks prior and was working with Muckler's scouting staff. Murray then found out that no 2 scouts had seen the same player in action and several eligible draftees hadn't even been scouted. Barf.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I'm kinda glad we didn't take Subban. His ego just wouldn't fit on the team.

Aside from that, yeah, the team really screwed itself over in the 2000s in the pre-Murray drafting days. Where we coulda been, if only.....

 

[danielpalfredsson]

The thing is, you can do that with every team and make an unbelievable lineup.

I think it is more fun to look at actual players who were ranked around where Ottawa picked and filled a similar need.

In 2010, had the Rundbland trade not materialized, would Ottawa have taken Bjugstad, or maybe Bennett? They obviously didn't want to take Tarasenko due to the Russian factor.

2009, what if they successfully trade up and get Kadri? In 2011, instead of taking Zibanejad or Couturier, they go off the board and take Brodin or Hamilton while passing on a C? If they pick up one of these defenders, does Ceci stay in the AHL for longer as he was arguably rushed to the NHL?

Maybe they are unsuccessful in trading up to take Puempel and grab Saad in the second round of the 2011 draft.

Without Rundbland, does Ottawa have the prospect needed to get Turris? Without Turris as a 1C, maybe Ottawa holds on to Spezza until the deadline and ultimately moves him for a different package, thus we enter a universe without Chiasson as a Senator.

Saad-Kadri-Ryan
MacArthur-Bjugstad-Stone
Hoffman-Pageau-Michalek
Greening-Smith-Lazar
Prince-Neil

Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Hamilton
Boro-Wideman
Phillips

That's some alt reality there. Not saying so and so player would play well together with the line combinations, it is just random.

 

[DrEasy]

We could also do a reverse what if: what would the Sens look like if Muckler has stayed on...

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

We could also do a reverse what if: what would the Sens look like if Muckler has stayed on...

....not on a full stomach. Don't think my insides could handle that.

 

[tony d]

We where 1 of the few teams in 2003 to not do well at the draft. We picked Eaves in Round 1, could have got Loui Eriksson or Shea Weber a few picks later.

 

[playasRus]

I'd be happy if the Heatley trade just never happened. Or Pronger over Daigle. Assuming the rest of the team remained intact. But we all know about the butterfly effect!

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

All the scenarios that happened landed us a generational talent in Karlsson.

That's impossible to have outside selecting Crosby/McDavid.

So whatever happened from then till now I'll take it, if we never drafted or developed a generational talent then I'd be furious but we look legit and posed for contender status for while with one or 2 more big moves.

 

[Back in Black]

Speculation is for people who speculate!

 

[SixthSens]

We where 1 of the few teams in 2003 to not do well at the draft. We picked Eaves in Round 1, could have got Loui Eriksson or Shea Weber a few picks later.

I was hoping for Perry but our current GM was kind enough to draft him for his former team

 

[Bileur]

The one that still makes me want to puke is Lee over Kopitar. Several people on the board were hoping for Kopitar.

 

[Caeldan]

I still think we should have taken Steve Mason over Eric Gryba. With enough talented headcase goaltenders in the system, maybe one of them would have been pushed enough to actually try and put some consistency into their game behind their skill.

Also, not sure if he sputtered out just because he got buried in San Joses system or something else... but Tyson Sexsmith was who I wanted over Louie Caporusso.

 

[Micklebot]

We where 1 of the few teams in 2003 to not do well at the draft. We picked Eaves in Round 1, could have got Loui Eriksson or Shea Weber a few picks later.

Eaves wasn't a bad pick though. Sure there were some home runs afterwards, but there were a lot more that busted.

Lee was a terrible pick. All the mid round Russians we picked at the height of the KHL threat. Those were mistakes. Weber didn't have any indications of being an offensive threat at the time.

Off topic, man did the Kelowna rockets D ever have some great success at the NHL level... Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Josh Gorges.

 

[OmniSens]

Still one goaltender short.

To be fair, with that lineup, we don't need a goalie at all. The puck would never be in our zone.

 

[freddy61]

I'd be happy if the Heatley trade just never happened. Or Pronger over Daigle. Assuming the rest of the team remained intact. But we all know about the butterfly effect!

The 2 extremes often brought up are Daigle and Lee.

Daigle was a must pick for Ottawa. He was the best forward available and for marketing reasons the only choice they could make. Without the 100% benefit of hindsight no Ottawa GM would have picked differently without a revolt and some immediate firings.

Lee was a long shot, a decent US junior but an absolute waste of a pick that could have been prevented. They could have waited a few rounds and probably still got Lee! At least the other misfires in the 1st round picks had some semblance of reason for being selected that high. No one has ever properly explained Lee at #9 with so many other good players still available. I'm all for a few long shots in the 3rd round and beyond but how can you be so far off in the top 10. Murray has a few like a 3rd pick for Filatov and a player with a serious concussion but with lot of upside (Jarrod Maidens) but I'm sure that being further down in the draft those were more pure underling scouting recommendations than head scout or GM decisions.

 

[HavlatMach9]

the 9th was a gift for a team that was a contender who wasn't going to pick in the top 10 for a long time. ah well

-nvm not a gift, losing that year while the team was at it's apex isn't worth a measly 9th

 

[aragorn]

The one that still makes me want to puke is Lee over Kopitar. Several people on the board were hoping for Kopitar.

I wanted Marc Staal instead of Lee, I didn`t know much about Kopitar but he was a big centre & I like big centres. I can remember having numerous arguments with people about all the Russian picks Muckler wasted. He set this franchise back a ways.