Speculation: How does the Senators decision on their own draft pick affect their offseason plans?

[Advanced stats]

There's not much that can be done about the position right now since the Sens signed Anderson to a two year extension prior to the season starting. Add to that Condon is also sticking around for another 2 years to tandem is set, justified or not. Gustavsson and maybe Hogberg form the succession plan but I don't see the Sens in the market for a goalie.

Also it's not so much a shopping list as a ''position that can be filled internally'', something the Sens have done to fill roster spots for sometime. Only position I think the Sens would potentially look for via free agency is the 1LD position, with Calvin De Haan being an ideal target to partner with EK if he stays. The rest will probably be filled by the farm and maybe in the draft if they get a pick from #2-4.

In which case Ottawa would be best to retool, because not upgrading goaltending and "filling positions internally" will not put you ahead of Tampa, Boston, toronto and Florida/Buffalo.
You can not expect White, Brown, and Chabot to jump into those key positions and succeed. That's a recipe for another 20-25th place finish.

Not to mention, you already have white and Chabot in your lineup, and the pipeline is not immediately bright..

 

[TheBradyBunch]

And a #1 goalie.

Add that all up and that's quite a shopping list for a team without a lot of tradable assets and on a shoestring budget.

Brown, Chlapik, Batherson, White - at least two of them will be regulars in the lineup next year. Add in Dahlin/Zadina/Svechnikov/Tkachuk/Bouchard (all of whom have a decent chance of playing immediately) or Boqvist, and I suspect a lot of those holes will be filled internally.

As for goaltending, I think they have one option - hope for the best with the two guys they have right now. That said, I think the rope will be short. They will try to cultivate competition in Belleville and hopefully, if needed, one of Gustavsson or Hogberg is able to answer the bell.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

If Karlsson is traded at the draft you have to think it potentially changes things.

 

[TkachukNorris79]

In which case Ottawa would be best to retool, because not upgrading goaltending and "filling positions internally" will not put you ahead of Tampa, Boston, toronto and Florida/Buffalo.
You can not expect White, Brown, and Chabot to jump into those key positions and succeed. That's a recipe for another 20-25th place finish.

Not to mention, you already have white and Chabot in your lineup, and the pipeline is not immediately bright..

White literally just got called back up. Chabot is looking very good so far.

Brown and Luchuk are two of the best scorers in the OHL, while Formenton had a very good year for an 18 year old and should have a stellar year with the knights next year (if he's not in the NHL).

Batherson was one of Canada's best players at the WJHC and tore up the Q. Chlapik had a pretty solid first pro season and will probably be in Ottawa full time next year.

That Sturtz kid from the NCAA looks like a very good signing and Wolanin has shown a ton of promise in his first 6 games with the sens.

Add in a top 5 pick this year and a mid-round pick from Pittsburgh (if they lose in the first two rounds), their prospect pool isn't all that bad.

There are definitely better prospect pools out there like Colorado, Tampa, Vegas etc... But there are also more than a few bright spots.

 

[Advanced stats]

Brown, Chlapik, Batherson, White - at least two of them will be regulars in the lineup next year. Add in Dahlin/Zadina/Svechnikov/Tkachuk/Bouchard (all of whom have a decent chance of playing immediately) or Boqvist, and I suspect a lot of those holes will be filled internally

Add in a top 5 pick this year and a mid-round pick from Pittsburgh (if they lose in the first two rounds), their prospect pool isn't all that bad.

There are definitely better prospect pools out there like Colorado, Tampa, Vegas etc... But there are also more than a few bright spots.

Not saying the pipeline is bad by any means.

More so in regards to the poster that I quoted originally who said that you could fill the 2C, 2lw, 1LD positions internally and be playoff competitive with the rest of the team as is.

Sorry but you just don't have the elite prospects to jump in immediately and make that impact.

If you groom your prospects properly and go for a mini retool, the team could be something special though.

 

[TheBradyBunch]

Not saying the pipeline is bad by any means.

More so in regards to the poster that I quoted originally who said that you could fill the 2C, 2lw, 1LD positions internally and be playoff competitive with the rest of the team as is.

Sorry but you just don't have the elite prospects to jump in immediately and make that impact.

If you groom your prospects properly and go for a mini retool, the team could be something special though.

No disagreement on my part! I was just giving some additional info.

 

[Advanced stats]

No disagreement on my part! I was just giving some additional info.

Yeah thanks, I seriously forgot formmington was your property, and batherson also skipped my mind. How's Batherson doing anyways? Seems to be the guy everyone loved during the WJC, and forgotten about afterwards..

 

[TkachukNorris79]

Not saying the pipeline is bad by any means.

More so in regards to the poster that I quoted originally who said that you could fill the 2C, 2lw, 1LD positions internally and be playoff competitive with the rest of the team as is.

Sorry but you just don't have the elite prospects to jump in immediately and make that impact.

If you groom your prospects properly and go for a mini retool, the team could be something special though.

I absolutely agree with you on that. It'd be nice if players/prospects were the only issue this organization had.

 

[Maukkis]

What a no-win situation for the Sens.

Giving up the pick this year would be a sign of belief in next year being even worse than this one. Keeping the pick would indicate that the organisation thinks that this year was an anomaly - but was it? That's the first question you have to think about.

Secondly, the whole Karlsson debacle complicates everything they do until he is traded or re-signed. What kind of message do you want to send to him; are you going to be better next year, or is this a free fall that EK may or may not want to be a part of? Also, if he wants to leave, it makes sense to give up the pick this year and let Dorion begin the rebuild in June. However, the cost of that is giving up a Dobson or a Hughes, which would suck. It really is a situation in which every choice you make is high risk, high reward -type.

 

[glucker]

As a Leafs fan, I really hope Ottawa thinks they're making the playoffs. We had to suffer through this shit, now it's their turn.

Anyone who was paying attention knew Ottawa overachieved last year, and was going to come back down to earth. They're not going to suddenly start playing better next season, and there are too many holes that need filling. This is a team that seriously needs to rebuild. Duchene isn't the guy you want as your #1C if you want to win the cup. He'd do better in the kind of role Kadri is in, if he can adapt to more of a shut-down role.

As to whether or not they keep the pick, I think it depends on where they finish, and what they think is going to happen with EK. If the pick is outside the top-5, and you think EK is leaving... let Colorado have the pick, and try to rid yourself of what isn't working. Also a good time to gauge if Duchene is going to want to re-sign when his contract is up, or if he should be moved as well.

Stone is probably young enough to be a vet for the rebuild, but probably not Hoffman.

Don't bother taking the asset hit to move Ryan.