The Senators launched a new season of Breakaway on their YouTube channel on Wednesday, and the first episode of Season 7 offered an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the team’s war room during the first round of this year’s NHL Draft.
The episode’s most intriguing material came from a mic’d-up Steve Staios, who revealed several details about Ottawa’s draft-night thinking.
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One of the biggest revelations was that their 25th overall pick, Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, was ranked nine picks higher (16th overall) on the Sens’ internal draft board.
Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy discuss how GM Steve Staios generally keeps his cards close to his vest.
So they had to be thrilled he was still available when their pick came around.
That being said, it sounds like Staios could have gone either way when it came to choosing between Lagerberg Hoen and Jaxon Cover, the London Knights forward Ottawa eventually selected 32nd overall.
“Okay, I was thinking [we pick] Cover first and then Lagerberg Hoen?” Staios wondered aloud to his scouting staff. “Or [do we think Lagerberg Hoen] won’t be there?”
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The Senators settled on the skilled Swede at No. 25, and a couple of factors appeared to push them in that direction.
One was obviously their internal ranking and the concern that he wouldn’t last to 32. The other was some interesting intel gathered during the pre-draft interview process.
“We talked to some of the top-end Swedish guys in the interview process,” Staios told head coach Travis Green. “Stuff like, ‘If you can bring a player with you, who would it be?’ And this guy’s name came up a lot.”
That apparently helped reinforce what Ottawa’s scouts already thought about Lagerberg Hoen.
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Staios was also busy on the phone leading up to the 25th pick, listening to potential trade offers.
At one point, as viewers got to eavesdrop on one of his phone calls, Staios said he was being offered the 33rd and 41st picks for Ottawa’s 25th and 72nd selections.
It doesn’t take much detective work to figure out that the offer came from new Vancouver Canucks GM Ryan Johnson, whose club owned picks 33 and 41.
Had Staios accepted, the Senators would have held picks 32, 33 and 41 instead of 25, 32 and 72.
He opted to stay put, almost certainly because Ottawa didn’t believe Lagerberg Hoen would still be there at No. 32. Considering the Senators had him ranked 16th overall, it’s easy to understand why they weren’t willing to take that chance.
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There was another interesting option involving the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Staios revealed that Pittsburgh had called to offer a deal that included a Penguins roster player, although the min-doc didn’t reveal the player’s identity.
That leaves plenty of room for speculation on who that might be.
One name that would make some sense is Justin Brazeau. The 6-foot-6, 232-pound winger scored 17 goals and 17 assists last season and has been mentioned in trade speculation.
With the Sens having recently lost the physical presence Brady Tkachuk provided, it’s not difficult to imagine the Penguins offering a player like Brazeau. Naturally, the Pens’ 39th overall pick or something else would have to be included in such a deal.
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Or if there were no picks changing hands, the unnamed roster player might need to be someone like Rickard Rakell or Bryan Rust.
But Staios resisted the various offers and plowed forward with his top picks in the order they were given.
They landed a player they had ranked 16th at No. 25, then still managed to get Cover seven selections later at No. 32.
For fans who enjoy the off-camera mechanics of draft night, it’s a fun episode.
It’s one thing to hear Gary Bettman announce names at the podium. It’s another to hear how close the Senators came to doing something completely different.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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This article was first published in The Hockey News. For more Sens coverage at The Hockey News, click on one of the Sens headlines below:
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Read the full article here
