Final 2024 NHL Draft Rankings + GM Steve Staios Confirms No Sens Buyouts

Final 2024 NHL Draft Rankings + GM Steve Staios Confirms No Sens Buyouts

on today’s show we’ve got our list we checked it twice and today we’ll unveil our final rankings ahead of the NHL draft and GM Steve sto spoke to the media shutting down trade rumors for a certain defenseman and biot rumors for another we’ll get into all that and more on today’s locked on S I’m Jake Sanderson I’m Tim and you’re listening to the locked on Senator podcast you’re locked on Senators your daily podcast on the Ottawa Senators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome you are locked on to the Ottawa Senators the only daily podcast covering the S on the outskirts of enemy territory I’m Ross Levitan alongside Brandon pillar up in the Blue Mountains today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply you can also follow the show on social media we’re at send Central on Twitter you can find the podcast wherever you get yours including on YouTube where a like comment and subscription go a long way to helping the show grow make sure to smash the notification Bell because we will go new episodes whenever news breaks today is Thursday June 27th Psy our final list is in I’m checked in for my flight we’re going Vegas and today we will have a trade that’s my prediction yeah I hope so Ross I said there was going to be two trades uh going on here so what time’s your flight my flight is at 8 Eastern 8 Eastern what time when you got on the plane to Cabo did the news break after you turned your phone off no it I had got on the flight I was sitting buckled in Captain said we’re taking off everybody turned turn your planes uh phones to airplane mode right as I was going to turn into airplane mode my phone was pinging like crazy and I was like what is this what’s going on and just chick trade I didn’t even look at the results what was going the other way just turned it to airplane mode smiled and went went on my way so I’m hoping Ross that this can be a reverse of that I can see that ch’s been traded away from the sense and I just won’t even need to look at what the return was and I can just smile and be on my way to Vegas so there’s a bit of a spoiler the man who Steve sto says ain’t going anywhere at least in trade rumors is Steve stos on Thomas Shabbat Thomas Shabbat was brought up in rumors yesterday I don’t even know where they originated from but enough that it got back to the man himself while he was addressing the media and he just said he didn’t know where the heck that came from his name has not been brought up once I guess the speculative aspect of it would be the fact that $10 million is his real money next season the no move Clause 10 team kicks in on July 1st so you do kind of have a decision to make it’s either now or never in a sense but his value is probably lower than it’s ever been and you just hope that he can stay healthy for a full season because when he’s on his game he’s a top four defenseman in the NHL and no longer does he have to carry the burden of being the only top four defenseman on the entire team now that Jake Sanderson is plenty established and able to take on those 25 to 27 difficult minutes night in night out so I don’t hate the decision to bring Thomas Shabbat back obviously we hope that he plays 82 games and that would be in and of itself a victory at this point it’s been a while but py your thoughts on Steve sto’s media availability that and as a whole yeah I thought it was a good availability he kind of addressed a lot of uh things up in the air and he didn’t dress address a lot of things which I also think is good um yeah we had we had kind of talked about the idea of Shabbat being traded I I think where I was interested in Shabbat being traded is when you start thinking okay if Steve stos is gonna trade a guy like Thomas Shabbat is Thomas Shabbat the longest serving Senator Left Right easily yes easily um when you start thinking about trading a guy like that with $8 million cap hit the only thing that I was interested in is what does do that mean Steve seos next move is going to be by no way shape or form do I do I want Tom Shabbat gone or do I think this team is better without Thomas Shabbat I think he’s a big part of this team not just on the ice but off the ice as well so we’re glad to hear that the rumors aren’t true but it was exciting Ross when you started hearing about freeing up 8 million of cap space what that could uh return but nonetheless those rumors are shut down and that’s completely fine by me and our friend Joe Albert commented on YouTube says he loves the new intro to the show and he says that he’d be okay with a mid to late first round pick in return for Tomas Shabad of course we don’t have to take too many steps down this road but I don’t think you really have to fall I feel like if it were gonna happen it should be a hockey trade I feel like it would have to be a positioned player who can help you now well I just think trading a$8 million player for one pick it that’s not really realistic like teams not a lot of teams can just put $8 million on the roster there’d have to be some money coming back the other way so I don’t think that would be the scenario anyways but it’s a it’s a moot point because Steve stos shut that down exactly he turned the stove off on that one let it cool down but he still has a lot of work to do and it will all culminate in the seventh overall pick or will it as he was asked about all the conversations and being such a wide openen year now we’re hearing rumors that Anaheim might go with Becket seneki at third overall which would be wow just an amazing piece of drama if it happens on the draft floor we know that Pat verb doesn’t care what you think about his pick and well still a lot of Runway left but Leo Carlson looks like a phenomenal pick at number two whereas Adam fantelli people were already buying jerseys with his name on it with the Ducks when they found out they were getting the second overall pick so it’ll be super interesting to see which direction Anaheim goes at three and we’ll see what the trickle down effect is with teams looking to get into the top 10 who are just outside of it like Philly does mat mechkov coming over if they start seeing demidov fall it’s like should we Corner the market we got him over so quickly we did it with fedotov too like could we jump up and make a play for that so so many moving need some centerman yeah that too Conant helenius is where we had our mock taking and that just makes so much sense if they stay at 12 but py we did our final draft rankings we’ll get to those in the next segment but we’ve got a clearcut our top 15 it’s in a different order but our top 15 is our top 15 and then beyond that like you’re 16th player I have 25th and you’re my 16th player you actually think have 17 shout out EJ Emery no spoilers but um it gets wide open after that so what we did is we took both of our rankings individually that we’ve been making each day we would do our three Prospect Prof files and then slide them into our rankings check it twice at the end of it so I like that concept and then we just averaged it out so those are coming to you later on but that top 15 like I’m gonna go out and say it the Senators cannot leave the draft without a top 15 pick yes agreed yeah definitely and there’s before we move on to the draft rankings though Ross there’s a couple other things from stos I want to address housekeeping I I really thought that it seemed like the Senators at least from reports we were hearing were going to buy out Travis hammeck Steve St shut that down as well uh basically saying hit it with a hammer yeah exactly they respect the veteran role that Travis hamik has and uh basically ended off saying we hope to have that next season so it seems like he’s gonna be here or at least Ross let me reward this he’s not going to be bought out as sto said clearly there’s not going to be any buyouts from the Senators so we’ll we’ll see if Travis hammeck remains without a buyou uh or if he’s traded yeah there’s Hammer um but I don’t know it’s gonna be interesting to see what kind of role he would have if he did stay but no buyout is coming no it is not and I I was talking to Martian about this yesterday and I said he’s a perfect seventh defenseman as long as he’s the seventh defenseman even if guys go down injured well that and that’s just the ISS issue right like Ottawa centers fans know injuries on the back end happen especially unfortunately Thomas Shabbat near the end of the season typically has an injury so if Travis hammeck is the guy that needs to slide into the top four while the send are hopefully pushing for a playoff position that’s not a recipe for success I look at it the same way I did with Nick Holden where it was a responsible respectable game for the first year or two but once these defend Ive defenseman lose a step the speed of the NHL is just so fast that these guys are getting turned around on the outside they can still box out in front of the net but it’s such a rush league right now where guys are just flying in with so much speed that at a certain point like everyone slows down and these big Husky defensemen who were never the fastest are are getting burned for it like you saw it with Bron Coburn when he came to Ottawa that’s a guy who had a phenomenal career but when he to Ottawa the wheels had fallen off so I I hope that hammer like I know he’s going to be a great leader I know he’s going to be a great locker room guy I just hope that he doesn’t play more than 12 games and the thing is Ross when hammeck was playing with Sanderson we were thinking okay like you know he he’s holding on here it’s it’s all right for now but now that Sanderson clearly is going to be with Zub and Ham’s not going to be playing with Sanderson who even in sanderson’s rookie year a lot of people were like like H sy’s kind of propping up this deep pair here like who’s Travis ham going to play with if he does end up playing it’s not going to be someone that can mop up uh no any mistakes or the the fact that he’s getting beat on the side like that right so that’s where it’s tough to find a spot for him but I guess we’ll see what happens uh and then speaking of kind of bottom tier defenseman also he didn’t give any any sort of uh update on Eric branstrom not bottom pairing we’re calling him bottom tier defenseman you called him a seventh defenseman that I would say that’s bottom tier he’s a seventh defenseman for sure but he does bring intangibles leadership but I really hope we’re not seeing him on the ice like Nick Holden played 40 games last year in Ottawa he can’t be up at 40 games no and that’s the concerned we’ll see what happens with Travis hammeck Eric branstrom and more as Steve stos will not tip his hand I appreciate this answer from him he was asked about any rfas or ufas that will not be qualified or not be coming back and it could have been so easy for him to just say kubik’s not coming back we all know he’s not coming back but I appreciate the level of professionalism that Steve sto says I I don’t have to tell like there’s no reason for me to just put that out there you’ll find out on July 1 at noon if he’s not signed and we don’t sign him then he won’t come back yeah I I appreciate that where it’s like there’s no need like remember how awkward it was when Nick Holden and Austin Watson maybe less so they left the door open a sliver for Austin Watson but remember Nick Holden he’s like yeah Pierre told me this morning I’m not coming back like how awkward was that for him to go do a presser after that like I get it but yeah I get it’s a little bit awkward Ross but I almost feel like the players would appreciate that now at least they have time to know that they’re not coming back they can start focusing on other things and there’s no tampering in the NHL there’s no tampering so it’s not like you would start having discussions with other teams or contracts or anything like that obviously but I don’t know I part of me thinks the players are like at least I’m not beaten around the bush and then because then what if Nick Holden goes up and he’s like I I’m so excited to come back to Ottawa blah blah blah and then after his prester appears like hey great job up there but you’re not coming back no I’m pretty sure that the I’m sure the players know I think that in that conversation they said hey let’s let’s keep it private there’s no need for for it to be a media story in Ottawa that these guys aren’t coming back it just feels like it’s a more professional way to go about doing business although I wouldn’t have mind Steve stals being like you will never see KUB in a sense Jersey ever again that would have been nice to hear uh he would have called jacqu Marte and let him break that news for him as we know uh wasn’t maybe the biggest fan or Brady or Sandy or pinto that USA checky game was was wild yeah in the world championships final note you mentioned Shane Pinto of course it was brought up and Steve stos just saying Shane knows what I think of him as a player and I think that that I appreciate that too he also said that uh sometimes these things take time well Tick Tock because we want Shane Pinto signed in Ottawa and to be a senator for a long long time there’s going to be new Senators tomorrow and on Saturday and we’ll have all your for you from sphere in Vegas believe the py quick break then we will come back and unveil our schedule where you can expect to find us over the weekend and then our final draft prep that’s all next you’re listening to locked on Senators your team every day today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at game time with killer last minute deals Allin prices views from your seat lowest price guarantee game time takes the guesswork out of buying tickets whether you want tickets for sports comedy concerts or theater game time is where you got to go if you’re not big planners like Ross and I although Ross did just say he’s going to unveil our schedule so we got some planning ahead but if you’re not huge planners and you just like to do things last minute game time is the place for you they have killer last minute deals they got Flash deals Zone deals the views from your seat is the best lowest price guarantee puts you at ease knowing the price that they show you is the price that you’re going to get at the end of it and you want to know that your ticket is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry that is game time so take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase download game time today last minute tickets lowest pric is [Music] guaranteed all right py wheels up to Vegas today we will be at the draft and we want to meet s fans Who are the the same I know Eric’s on a delay right now from mwa he’s coming to town I know Anthony’s going to be there as well we know our guys over at I want to make sure I’m getting this right our guys Chris Crawford and Company they’ll be in town so we got a little bit of a s crew I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Dr Bob there the way that guy drives around he’s at the Stanley Cup finals rocking a s Jersey just we want good s Vibes all around you’ll be seeing us all around the strip in Vegas so hit us up on Twitter at s Central and on YouTube would love to have a pilgrimage to sphere full of sense fans on Friday afternoon so there’s a bit of housekeeping for more housekeeping today I’m going to cut some of the clips from our full mock draft and these clips are going to be from the conversations with our experts those will go up on YouTube on Friday morning and if there is a trade we will also have a have a bonus episode for you on Friday morning then the expectation is we will have some sort of content for you either on the way to the draft or once we get to the sphere and then what do you think we’re doing after the first round of the draft going out on the town or are we going to do for the fourth consecutive year an immediate first round draft reaction well Ross uh the answer to that is we’re going to do both however first we are going to get you guys your content then we’re hitting the town of Vegas but not a green light Ross that’s a that’s a yellow light night cuz we got to be up at 8:30 in the morning boots on the ground at 8:30 yeah soot on the ground yeah we’re upet about that at all I’m not we’re ready for it and then on Saturday I would expect a whether it’s just a bonus quick hitter but right after the Senator’s entire draft we’re hoping to go down chat with some Scouts after the uh the day two so um we will be in touch with you and that’s why you got to hit the notification Bell on YouTube it is going to be a heck of a weekend we cannot wait hoping to get some live interviews as well invite him up to the room sit him down give him a bottle of water and make sure that uh we get some good good content from some great people some names that you will recognize as friends of the show yep all right py first on our locked on senators and draft rankings is Macklin celebrini now this was a contentious one Ross you and I went back and forth on the celebrini first overall but we met in the middle and decided to keep it there you had him at 40 on your list I couldn’t believe it well s Stars he’s not in the s’s range so that knocks him down the list no no no that’s I mean that’s the easiest thing that we’ve we’ve ever come to terms on um he was first on every single board he will be the first overall pick mik career isn’t even messing around he knows he’s going to be first and uh we’re pulling up our top well here let me scroll down the average is the point here is our locked on Senators top 10 in our NHL draft rankings now I don’t think it’ll make good radio if we just sit here and name names so let’s do this TSN style where they pull up the full list and then I’ll just ask you out of the top 10 are there any surprises because I think some people are going to going to see this and say why is rtim lunov fifth on this list when a lot of indications say that he will be the pick at number two for Chicago I mean keep in mind this is a rankings not a mock draft uh I’ll I’ll preface by saying that um I I think you you and I kind of had her eyes open to levanov when Jerome baru famously did not pick him in the top eight of our mock draft or was it even top 10 no top eight they went to nine in uh Calgary right yep um and I just think a lot of people they just overhype and overshine the fact that he’s a right-hand shot defenseman that had a great year in college like fifth overall in rankings is still a very very good player so let’s start off with that um but I just think he’s maybe not as much of a package and as much of a potential swing as a guy like zeve buam who we have fourth or a guy like zanen perek who we have right behind lunov could possibly be so although this isn’t how I have it Ross I think this is a fair spot to have these three buam lunov and PR should be very close together what order you decide to put them in is up to each individual but I do think these three are uh very close together it should be a one two3 run honestly in the draft cuz people are going to see one or two defensemen go off the board and everyone else will be like well there’s a group of six and we need to get our guy from the group of six our top 10 has five defensemen in it Z William at four our team have shov at five zanen per at six and then Anton silv at 10 on our list now silv could very well be a top three pick in this draft he could be a top three player at six foot7 amazing skater but we just weren’t sold on the offensive contributions that he could have at the NHL level I don’t know if guy and some the decision making is what really was questionable about silv but I mean it’s a young defenseman playing a full season in the KHL so those are going to be more apparent than if he played in the MHL or something the beauty of this list and having the top 10 is that the Ottawa Senators will have their ability to pick from at least four of those guys at least I would even say five or six Ross okay so you think that at least one if not two guys outside of our top 10 will go in the top sticks yeah well you mentioned uh earlier on the show Becka seneki rumored that the Ducks are interested in him a third uh five we’ve we kept hearing that yep and I I’m inclined to believe the Senators are probably pretty high on Beck and seneki as well he go that’s the guy I would say would would jump up Ross he cannot go before demidov that would just be criminal it would be very surprising for sure very surprising okay there’s our top 10 we will scroll through the rest of the rankings and get you some final draft prep what we’re hearing out of all the Insiders are are they said it was going to be a whirlwind and we haven’t had a whole lot of Trades so we’ll kind of look around the rumor mill a quick bit and what have we seen from the trades recently the few that there have been and could the Senators have made comparable trades that’s all next you’re listening to locked on Senators it’s your team every day today’s episode is brought to you by the gleeb central pub you can visit the gleeb central pub right in the heart of the Glee at 779 Bank Street they will have the NHL draft on screen tomorrow night with volume so you can go check out the NHL draft with our friends at the Glee central pub the Glee central pub is amazing because not only do they have great food awesome drinks and an atmosphere that brings you back and back and back but the other part is the family aspect of the Glee central pub you can snuggle in for movie night every Tuesday and Sunday and go check out all the great events live music every Saturday night at the Glee central pub they’ve got specials all week long I’m talking wing night on Monday trivia on Tuesday and taco Thursday $5 each teach all day at the Glee central pub so get to 779 Bank Street let them know that locked on Senators sent you and you can also go check out Athletico Ottawa games there they are soccer hooligan bars and you know how much fun it is watching footy with the fellas so get to the GLE central pub 779 Bank Street The Vibes are free at the gcp [Music] all right pillsy I was looking on our YouTube where we’ve been putting together a 2024 NHL draft playlist and when you make a playlist you’re like wow I wonder how many videos I’ll actually put into this well the NHL draft is tomorrow and Saturday and we have 122 draft videos ready for you wow 123 after today all right there we go yeah we’re ready for this draft and obviously it’s going to be very special the last time that the NHL will all be in attendance if you saw the NBA Draft last night round one that’s what the NHL draft will more look like going forward the top few prospects will still be invited the commissioner will make the picks or maybe it’ll be Bill Daly but someone at the league office will make the picks and the GMS won’t be there they will all be in their War rooms War room is a super cool word by the way yeah definitely although war room was uh like we had PTSD from hearing about war rooms because the Ottawa caters War rooms were laughable compared to other teams I remember that was that the 2020 draft it had to be because that was the one everyone did virtually yeah or it might have even been before R but I remember we pulled up a picture and it was like dorion with like a old laptop and like Rye was next to yeah yeah like it was just oh boy better days are already here and you got to think of best inclass attitude is ahead as well for the Ottawa Senators and getting a great player at seventh overall could be a huge part of getting that now I I want to end the first part of our list here with just going to 15 where it is a major teardrop for us after 15 who stands out to you in this range like like that’s too high or too low or or what do you mean I I feel like I just snapped it over to you quick because I had to sneeze and mute my mic to be honest with you oh okay no worries um what what’s a is there a surprise to you almost dropped my cof I mean did you hear the cut move yeah dude you gotta get it together here all right I’ll take over you know what Ross just shut your camera off shut your mic off and I’ll drive the bus from here okay so this list is where we really see a change in the draft so as long as the SS do not go trade back below 15 they have a chance at getting a good player like I mentioned I think the only player I can see sneaking up into the top 10 is Becka seneki I’m highlighting on my computer as if you guys can see classic move by me um or maybe oh nice thank you it worked uh or Carter yemchuk could be a guy that also goes up I don’t see hired Cory prman yeah yeah honestly yeah checks in the mail um I don’t see helenius uh branc knard or Eisman bumping into the top 10 so basically it’s a tier of 12 or 13 and then these two are kind of like so the thing is eisman’s either going to be a hitter like he’s either going to be a 40 goal scorer or he’s going to be a 10 goal scorer I think at the NHL level or he’s going to be a guy who scores 20 and doesn’t do much else like a bit a bit of Mike Hoffman in his game yep sure he’s either Mike Hoffman or Danny Heatley so you’re either going to get a 50 goal scorer or a guy who scratches 30 a couple but is a liability in other areas of the game where bran neard could not be more different he’s a guy who’s more Patrick hornist more every single shift he’s gonna give a 100% effort and and be a pain in the ass to play against Brans negard is probably among the most NHL ready players in this draft class as well a guy who could step in maybe even as soon as this after his season in the shl where he’s jumping for the first year after playing the all fensin that could be an interesting guy so this top 15 get familiar with it because the Ottawa Senators will be making a pick in the top 15 I’m almost certain about that and they’re gonna get a potential game breaker with everyone I just said the guy who goes 15th might be a 50 goal scorer like that’s that’s pretty good potential yeah definitely I don’t think the SS would be in on Eiserman but yes the potential there the potential is there 16th on my list is EJ Emy as we get to this is a a nice a nice tier here because Cole Hudson’s interesting that he snuck up to 20 on our list EJ Emery at 16 Charlie ellic at 17 those are two right-handed defenseman where if the Senators had that 25th overall pick that would be a great selection it just feels like um they probably won’t be in this range anymore so I think we can just kind of scroll through this I will be posting this on Twitter later on you can follow along with all of our draft coverage and hey subscribe to the patreon I just put our link to this document we’ve got how many pages is this document it’s got to be like 15 pages worth of draft notes all of our notes there for our prep is in it so we posted that one uh exclusively on our patreon but py this next tier um we’ve got a good Ottawa boy here in Co Bood dway at 21 on our rankings uh our most divisive player is in this range as well Sten Solberg you you’re still not sold on E I don’t I’m not as sold on like I I think I’ve got him at like what 34 or something so I I recognize how how the potential is and where he could be I just think teams are a little over overhyped on him I I want to see what he does in a bigger sample size at higher competition so I’m I’m less on soberg as most I’ll admit that we got Trevor Connelly at 28 29 with average of 28 that to us is just kind of a business decision we’re trying to add players who you know we know will be organizational pillars on and off the ice so uh we’ve got Trevor Connelly admittedly first round Talent probably top 10 talent but we’ll see that’s a wild character in this draft class another Ottawa boy Dean luno comes in at 33 on our list and for the Senators at 39 I would be keeping an eye on the bottom part of this piece of our rankings Adam Cleber right shot defenseman six foot five our guy Joe Bell loves him and then at 38 will skan he’s a mutant now big left defenseman maybe a bottom pair projection so is that a guy you want to use when you need I think the send actually if they if they don’t go right shot defenseman at 39 I really think they got to take a swing on upside like that’s the type of you want to either if you’re if you’re ground out whatever but you you want to be hitting for the fences on that pick yeah I would agree uh Cleaver would be a great addition in this spot Ross why don’t you scroll down a little bit more so we see the range of um other players in the 39 area yes Bing in man the over Ager he’s a guy who could be super interesting as an already 19-year-old but he only started really taking hockey seriously after last year’s draft he saw his buddies get drafted he’s like hey that looks fun yeah yeah that’s interesting uh Tanner Howard was a guy I really like but I [Music] do I’m with you Ross I think they should try to Target specifically a right shot defenseman with pick 39 but a defenseman in general uh but depends how they go on seven and if they trade back get more picks Etc but the issue is if you are going for a defenseman Ross here is where they start to thin out a little and especially if other teams are prioritizing that and we get a run on of defenseman you might be standing at at the musical chair circle with no chairs left as far as defenseman goes at 39 that’s a thing there’s so many and and we could see a real long run like half of the first round could be defenseman which would be yeah unprecedented uh Merrick vanacker who uh Brock auton selected for the S at 25 in our mock draft he’s at 44 the Brandford Bulldog a couple other interesting names in this range Sam O’Reilly jumped up rankings after his impressive playoffs with the London Knights he’s a guy who we had a lot lower when the initial lists came out but he’s at 47 now we had him 76th Ross that was our ranking for him when we did it so yeah um another player I want to highlight here uh Ben Danford has been getting a lot of smoke from uh from Brock Aon in the OHL he’s an Ashawa General as well so he’s a guy who I think we could be looking for for the Ottawa Senators py and I are gonna put out our top picks for number seven on Twitter unless like should we wrap the show with that once we finish because I don’t know if we really need to go too much these are are guys outside of ottawa’s range again this whole list is available on the patreon but um it’s it’s awesome to see that the draft’s finally here all the work that goes into it like I can’t imagine how Scouts feel that have been doing this all year like to culminate in this weekend it’s just so special and um I think that for us we’re just happy to be there and happy to be like the the smallest Cog in the whole wheel that turns the draft cycle over I I love this time of year and to be able to head to our first NHL draft is is awesome I can’t wait to get to Vegas and get going Ross I would pay a substantial amount of money to look at the Ottawa Senators list like just just to see it I wouldn’t post it I wouldn’t tell anyone about it I would just want to know how what they’re valuing compares to how we’re looking at things like I would just be so fascinated to see the difference if we see pulley in Vegas I will ask him okay on Sunday can you send me the list please or Ross we should talk to him before the draft pulley you got any questions on players prospects like we we got some info for you I’m actually going to print out all these lists thanks for reminding me before we go one we’re going to do our own mock draft based on what we think the teams are going to pick I want that in one pocket and then in another pocket I want our list because I want to be scratching off names as we go by the way last year we had 29 of our 32 top picks we’re in the first round that’s one more than Bob McKenzie just saying nice just saying um Ross if you want to put your money where your mouth is on FanDuel they have draft bets uh last I checked was a couple days ago so yeah it was only up to five uh but if you think you know the order that top five why not uh get some green numbers in the account for it all right Psy this is what everybody’s been waiting for our top five players at seventh overall who is your A+ plus plus pick in that spot Ross I’ve been pretty consistent with this I I usually try to stay consistent you know sometimes there’s material changes and my takes and opinions uh shift or I I have to reward them or reemphasize certain parts but I feel pretty safe in saying people that have been following along no I’ve maintained my priority Zan pre is my number one A+ plus pick for the SS at seventh overall a right-hand shot defenseman that has put up historical numbers in the OHL for defenseman scoring more than 30 goals that doesn’t happen very often his analytics our EP had an article where it showed they was literally off the charts like they got all these little dots in the same area and then Zay perek is way up over here like just what he’s able to do the hockey IQ the dynamic play that he has is so incredible for me it’s worth taking that swing because I believe in time he could become a version of Eric Carlson and S fans like that’s music to your ears right there so that’s the type of Swing I want happening here at seventh overall okay do you want to kind of bounce back and forth or do you want to go with your maybe we do a top three because top five let’s bounce back and forth my number one is zeve buam if he’s available I just think that having a left side and I know it’s not ideal positionally but having zeve buam and Jake Sanderson for years to come on the left side would would be just an absolute game Cher for Ottawa they would own transition for for the next 10 years yep definitely so zeve buam would be my top guy he’s fourth on my list like I mean in Craig button’s most recent mock draft he went third people were chirping us when Jerome selected him third in our mock draft and then seeing Craig like Z boam is a winner people want to add winners he won at the u18s he won at the u20s he won a national championship as the top defenseman on his team at 18 years old this guy’s an absolute stud he’s got 80 friends and family coming some from as far as Israel to come to the draft like this guy is he’s a lot like Jake Sanderson and I think if you talk to a lot of s fans cloning Jake Sanderson sounds like a great idea so that’s why I’ve got zeve buam as my top pick Psy I’ll keep it rolling my number two option for the Ottawa Senators is TE ainla the power aspect of his game when he fills out the shot is lethal everything that guy does in the offensive zone is just high IQ the guy thinks the game at a high level he blew up this year in his goal scoring ability and his point totals obviously the blood lines are a great addition to add to the organization the guy gets it he comes from a family that gets it his sister’s already representing Canada winning medals his younger brother might even be better than him this is a hockey family that’s just starting to scratch the surface of the Next Generation and if he could be half of the player Jerome ainla was sign him up for the S at seven yeah te ginla probably would have been my next guy so obviously uh I agree with that one you you you you don’t have to not take a guy because I’ve got him because my third guy is Zane PR yeah yeah no I’m I I agree with you but I’ll I’ll stick to my pattern look it’s possible linov falls to the sends at seven if he falls there I’m interested it’s funny because in my in my rankings I have le shov one pick ahead of zann Pere but if they’re both on the boards for the sends I don’t know I do I’m taking perct if they’re both on the board I’m I’m swinging for that but Ross it’s just we talked about this finding good right shot defenseman is so hard to do if you have the opportunity to draft and develop one of those guys I just think it’s such a key part of having that back end because then you don’t have to go out and pay premium assets to acquire one uh so if levanov is available and Zay pre was gone I would be happy with that selection I know we talked a little bit about why we were more lower on him than some other entities but make no mistake he’s still a great player and a great Prospect and Ross a lot of people have him as the top defenseman in this draft a lot of people have Z boam as the top defenseman in this draft so those are the types of players and the types of swings and the type of Cornerstone Foundation pieces you need when you’re drafting a top 10 pick in a draft like this so with that said where where are we at with the other defenseman in this top range Sam Dickinson for me is number four after zann perek yeah I I like Sam Dickinson for the SS uh that’s you’re getting an NHL player there in my opinion there’s not a lot of risk he’s got a high floor he’s got all the tools needed to be a top four defenseman I don’t think there’s much offensive upside or let me AG with this there’s not as much offensive upside as you could get from a boam obviously pre uh and linov and I think the S would be more inclined to go with Dickinson over s SV so definitely I think Dickinson makes more sense and I would be disappointed they didn’t go for a big swing but at the same time I would be very comfortable with Sam Dickinson being that pick again he’s a left shot defenseman which isn’t perfect but like the talent at this part of the draft you take best player available and you worry about that later now we are under the assumption that our top three players Macklin Cabrini Ivan demidov and Kaden Lindstrom are off the board so we didn’t even consider those three those would be the top three obviously for us as well at seven if somehow Kaden lstm’s there whoop he goes up to number one on my list big time yeah but that’s the thing I don’t see any way shape or form that either okay let’s just not even talk about celebrating so demov and linstrom I don’t think there’s any realm of possibility that they fall to seven no mean Nei so let us know in the comments who you would like the Ottawa Senators to Target at number seven for me it’s z buam t ginla zann perek Sam Dickinson if they leave with any of those four four players yep that’s an A plus and I would even say to for an a draft that’s where I’ll I’ll expand it to Berkeley katton antton silv I’ll sell myself on a 6 foot7 smooth skating defenseman if I have to and I’d probably throw no that that might be my next like mini tier seni doesn’t sneak in there no I think is in my second tier my third tier is gonna be cona helenius Becca senaki and Carter yemchuk okay cono helenus doesn’t make it for me I I just think at seven doesn’t make sense there’s too much other swing but yeah yemchuk I could I could get excited about lots of skill there um yeah I think I think Becka seneki is a guy that’s going to go higher than than people think I think NHL teams and Scouts are very interested in what he can do and for a good reason the guy is nasty for a really good reason now let’s take a look at py and my uh top 10 so this is how it all differs this will be uh my final thoughts on today’s show our final draft prep episode of lock on Senators again we’ve got plenty of content on YouTube you can go check out the mock draft has timestamps so you can still go learn about all these players from our Scouts and figure out who you like and who you hope the Senators go with in this draft so it’s funny like we’ve got in our top 10 so many players all the same players all the same yeah and that even extends to the top 15 our top 15s are the same they’re all just separated talked by a few so it it’s super interesting to see just how close but at the same time how different our lists are like you have Zayn at four I have Zayn at seven and for zeve it’s four and six and it’s just slight differences in preference but all in all these players are all going to be impact NH each others there’s no doubt in my mind maybe one bus and I don’t even know which one I don’t want to guess yeah but I do think that you’re looking at a lot of great players here and I’m just glad the Senators I know the pain of the season was brutal but this is this is the fruit of that that tough labor that overtime with no extra cash all season long this is what you get in return is a player that could potentially help your team down the road yeah there’s so much talent here Ross I honestly I could Spin Zone myself into liking any of any of these players for the SS py any final thoughts I know we still got to get to packing we’ve been waiting up until the very last minute we’re just hours away from heading to the airport final thoughts on not only the show py but the draft as a whole final thoughts for me uh We’ve mentioned this a couple times but we really mean it look going to the draft is going to be a new experience for Ross and I if you guys have certain content you want to see or you have content ideas for us let us know we’ve got lapel mics so we’re going to be doing stuff a little differently I’ve got my camera we’re going to be doing some filming Ross I even dug out from our CSM days I dug out my old tape recorder so if we got to get in scrums and and get some audio we’re going to do that so we’re we’re locked up with equipment here so if you guys have fun things you want us to do I know a lot of people have kind of mentioned they want it to be a little bit more like a vlog style where they see how our day is going and things like that we’ve got a CSM Alum cameraman a Content guy coming with us so uh we’re going to have some assistance there so let us know in the comments or hit us up on Twitter ATS Central fun content ideas that you guys want to see and hopefully Steve stos remains busy but man what a home run on lenus allmark dude we haven’t had a chance to chat he did a 20 minute media availability and it’s almost like when I ask you final thoughts sometimes you’re like wait I still have coffee left we’re done talking already that that guy is just awesome man like I think that something we kind of overlooked about Lena almark is he’s coming from a winning culture like this guy he he plays to win the game and I think that what he’s going to bring off the ice might be equally as important as the goenda sorry Ross my final final thought is I’m so excited about Lena alar and how good he is I haven’t even like it’s kind of glossed over me that we don’t have the 25th overall pick like you and I were like emry ell there’s so many good players you could have there we’re talking about that pick I don’t give a damn about losing that pick now like Lea solar is the guy I would have given up so much more to acquire him so boy I am excited now if EJ Emery is the 25th pick and in the division I’m Gonna Be Sad don’t care no py content idea and people are listening this deep in the episode um you’ll be like oh they they did do it um we’re going to take a a a video while the 25th pick’s being announced just glued to our phone watching all Mark highlights like we’re not even in the sphere we are just oh that entire wall is a screen no we’re watching Lena alark highlights on the phone love it love it okay all sorts of goof uh goofy ideas just like that this weekend talk to you from Las Vegas for today we say goodbye thank you so much for liking watching engaging with the show being a part of our draft coverage it’s literally been two and a half months since the Senators last played a game and we love the draft we do all that prep it’s a labor of love so that we can let our hair down or cut it off in time to go and enjoy this weekend for Brandon pillar I’m Ross Levitan we will talk to you tomorrow for another edition of the locked on Senators podcast your team every day

The NHL Draft is tomorrow!

Brandon Piller and Ross Levitan are stoked to be heading to Las Vegas to The Sphere for the event we’ve spent months preparing for! Today we reveal our final combined rankings list and discuss which players we value. We also give our official Wishlist for the 7th Overall selection. Steve Staios spoke to the media so we react to him shutting down rumours about trading Thomas Chabot or buying out Travis Hamonic.

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