Senators have 24 hours to decide whether to give up their 7th pick

Tonight, the draft lottery took place. Obviously, in Montreal, we were hoping to see the Habs go first… but in the end, logic prevailed and the Sharks got the first pick.

For their part, the Senators landed an exciting an exciting coach in Travis Green the seventh pick in the first round… but the work doesn’t stop there.

In fact, it’s now decision time in Ottawa.

Because, let’s not forget that in the Evgenii Dadonov trade saga, the Senators were found guilty of not having given the right information to Vegas, who traded him to Anaheim.

In doing so, the Senators will have to give up a first-round pick between 2024 and 2026… and they have 24 hours to decide whether to do so this year.

In reality, it seems rather unlikely that the Sens will choose to serve out their sentence at this draft. After all, we’re still talking about the seventh overall pick, and with the club’s young core, it’s safe to assume that they’re likely to be better off in the years to come.

The most likely scenario, then, seems to be for them to postpone their sentence until a later date… or to try to absorb it.

Remember that the Devils were in a similar situation a decade ago over Ilya Kovalchuk’s illegal contract, and in the end, they agreed to get the last pick of the first round instead of giving up a pick. So the Senators could be hoping for the same scenario… but will Bettman want to help the Senators in this way?

We’ll have to keep an eye on that, but the good news is that we’ll know by tomorrow night. I expect them to keep him, but you never know, after all.

Prolongation

For what it’s worth, on their X account, the Senators have stated that they will draft seventh overall in reaction to the lottery results.

OFFICIAL: We will be picking seventh overall at the #NHLDraft#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/BQ6cRyQQXs

– Ottawa Senators (@Senators) May 7, 2024