Ottawa on the precipice of a game changing draft
Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Citizen: Pierre Dorion remains a busy man these days. Consider that Ottawa has 13 picks in this year’s draft. Also, nine of them are in the first three rounds. That makes Dorion very popular among other general managers whose teams have been eliminated from the bubble.
Ottawa also has two picks in the top five — third and fifth overall. As they wait to see what Los Angeles does at number two, Dorion knows that there are lots of picks to dangle for NHL caliber talent. However, the chatter err offers has not been enticing enough for the general manager to act.
Dorion believes all top three forwards are NHL ready this year and that seems to be an accurate sentiment.
“There are three top forwards at the top of the draft. It’s no secret here and we feel that we’re going to get one of those guys and that player can play for us as soon as the 2020-21 season starts,” Dorion said. “That, in a nutshell, you’re getting a cornerstone of our franchise that our fans can identify as early as Dec. 1 and before that.
Again, October 6th will be the beginning of a new page for the Ottawa franchise and a game changer indeed.
A quick look into the St. Louis Blues
Tom Timmerman of St. Louis Today (mailbag): One of the bigger bits of news was when Jim Montgomery was brought in as an assistant. This will be to help young forwards like Jordan Kyrou. Montgomery excelled at it in Dallas and the development is something St. Louis needs.
The Alex Pietrangelo question keeps changing in answer. From speculation floating around, it does seem like the defenseman wants to stay on some sort of eight year deal. That could run around $8-8.5 million AAV but the numbers are still hazy. Stay tuned.
If Pietrangelo were to leave, do not be surprised to see Ryan O’Reilly get a look at being captain. He does not have an “A” yet but personifies the leadership there. Even Brayden Schenn is a slight possibility along with Vladimir Tarasenko. Alex Steen is as well but there is some rumors that he is not 100% a lock in St. Louis next season.
As for David Perron, there remains a possibility (due to age) he could be exposed in the expansion draft but again, that is just early chatter.