Steve Staios and Senators have plenty of options with No. 7 selection, including trades (2024)

Like a good poker player, Steve Staios is playing his cards close to the vest.

As the Ottawa Senators prepare for Round 1 of the National Hockey League draft Friday at The Sphere in Las Vegas, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager is keeping all his options on the table with the No. 7 overall selection in this year’s annual crapshoot.

Staios has taken calls — plenty of them — on the club’s only selection in the first round, but he’s not any hurry to deal the pick for immediate help.

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As Staios told Postmedia a week ago, he will study the option of moving up or back a few spots, but not out of the first round completely.

Trying to predict what might happen in this year’s draft is difficult because, after Boston University centre Macklin Celebrini is taken No. 1 overall by the San Jose Sharks, it’s anybody’s guess which way this draft may go.

Usually teams can tell you the first 10 selections in order, but that’s not the case this spring. Don Boyd, the club’s chief amateur scout, will advise Staios whether he thinks it’s a good idea to move back or not and that will likely depend on what happens in front of the Senators.

“In a year like this it’s just not as clear cut as it’s been in previous years,” Staios said on a Zoom call Wednesday from Vegas. “It’s safe to say we feel good about the spot that we’re at with No. 7 to be able to get a very good player for us in Ottawa.

“You look at opportunities and teams that aren’t in the top 10 want to get into the top 10, so we’re willing to listen.”

General managers and scouts aren’t sure which route the first round will take because after No. 1 there’s a belief that everybody’s list is completely different and there’s not much consensus.

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Craig Button, a former NHL general manager and TSN’s highly respected director of scouting, says Celebrini “is the best player and he’s complete.”

This is the first time since the 2021 draft the Senators have had a pick in the top 10 because the club sent its 2022 No. 7 overall selection to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for winger Alex DeBrincat.

On Button’s final mock draft released Monday, he had the Senators selecting defenceman Zayne Parekh of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit. He finished with 96 points last season and played a key role in the club’s trip to a Memorial Cup title.

“Zayne Parekh, the offensive wizard, he’s a dynamo. When the puck is on his stick he wants to make things happen. He can make those precise passes and thread the needle. What he did in the OHL this past season was just tremendous,” Button said.

“They don’t have a player like that on the blueline. They have lots of offensive players and they have good young prospects. They do not have an offensive wizard right-shot (defenceman) conjures up images of Erik Karlsson.”

The indications are the Senators also have more than a passing interest in blueliner Sam Dickinson of the London Knights. Button had him ranked No. 8, going to the Seattle Kraken in his mock draft, but the left-shot blueliner may fit the bill for Ottawa down the road.

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He had 18 goals and 70 points in 68 games with the Knights last season and made his presence felt in the club’s run to the OHL title.

TSN insider Bob McKenzie had Dickinson ranked No. 5 on his list.

“Dickinson is a complete package,” an NHL scout told McKenzie. “He’s not the most physical guy; he’s not the most offensive; he doesn’t have the best shot, but he still gives you a lot. He’s such an easy guy to project as a complementary player on your top pair or the lead guy on your second pair.”

Another option may be forward Tij Iginla of the Kelowna Rockets. The son of former NHLer Jarome Iginla finished with 47 goals and 84 points last season. Ottawa has never had an issue with taking the sons of former NHL players and the scouting staff here hasn’t changed much.

Button had him going No. 5 to the Montreal Canadiens, but if he’s still around at No. 7 he’s an option for Ottawa.

“Tij Iginla is a difference-maker like his father, he plays hard when it matters, the ‘on’ switch is always on,” Button said. “He’s a different type of player, but I think he can influence things and build like the way (Juraj) Slafkovsky plays, the will and the drive of (Nick) Suzuki and (Kaiden) Guhle. Those players that are in it to win it.”

Moving back won’t be ruled out, but the asking price to do that will be high.

“We have plenty of interest in the pick,” Staios said. “If the opportunity comes up and we like the return then we’ll think about it. There’s a little bit of question on what the order might be at this point.

“Everybody would love to move into the top 10 and we’ll continue to listen.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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