Ottawa Senators fans and those wagering on the team at Ontario betting sites are in wait-until-next-year mode. Again. On Dec. 18, Ottawa fired coach D.J. Smith and brought in veteran Jacques Martin. The Senators wound up seventh in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
🔥 Ottawa Senators Playoff Chances
What will the 2024 NHL Draft bring for the franchise? First, we look at where the Ottawa Senators 2024 Draft picks will fall, as of May 24 (barring any trades):
Round | Pick # |
1 | 7 |
1 | 25 (via BOS) |
2 | 39 |
4 | 103 |
4 | 112 (via DET) |
4 | 117 (via TBL) |
4 | 127 (conditional) |
5 | 135 |
After the NHL Draft Lottery, the Senators were slotted into the seventh overall selection in the first round. This is the first time since 2021 that Ottawa has had a first-round pick and now it will have two for 2024, because the team acquired the No. 25 overall choice in a trade with the Boston Bruins (via the Detroit Red Wings).
In all, the Senators have seven picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, which will be held June 28-29 in Las Vegas, Nevada. That includes three selections in the fourth round and perhaps four – one of the selections is conditional on whether the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup. They are the current favorites at NorthStar Bets Ontario Sportsbook with +165 odds.
Player | Odds | Percent Chance |
Saginaw (OHL) D Zayne Parekh | +200 | 33.3% |
London (OHL) D Sam Dickinson | +500 | 16.7% |
U. of Denver D Zeev Buium | +500 | 16.7% |
Calgary (WHL) D Carter Yakemchuk | +800 | 11.1% |
KHL D Anton Silayev | +1000 | 9.1% |
The Field | +700 | 12.5% |
Our projections have the Senators leaning heavily toward drafting a defenceman seventh overall. Ottawa allowed 281 goals in the 2023-24 season; only four teams allowed more.
Anyone selected this year won’t necessarily help right away, especially on the blueline because defenceman usually take longer to develop into NHL-quality players than forwards. Still, the organization could use depth and some future standouts because Ottawa has not allowed an average of fewer than three goals per game since the 2016-17 season. That was also the last time the Senators made the playoffs, well before NHL betting was offered by legal, regulated operators in the province.
The top player on our Senators 2024 Draft projections board is defenceman Zayne Parekh (+200 odds), a native of Nobleton, Ontario, who turned 18 in February. He had 96 points (33 goals, 63 assists) in 66 games for Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League. Another OHL player, London D Sam Dickinson, is second at +500 odds. You won’t find these odds at Ontario sports betting apps; these were prepared exclusively for OntarioBets.com.
Year | Player | Career Point Shares |
2021 – No. 10 | Tyler Boucher | 0.0 |
2020 – No. 3 | Tim Stutzle | 22.4 |
2020 – No. 5 | Jake Sanderson | 11.6 |
2020 – No. 28 | Ridley Greig | 3.1 |
2019 – No. 19 | Lassi Thomson | 0.1 |
With no first-round picks in the 2023 or 2022 NHL draft (last year, Ottawa did not select until the fourth round), it’s no wonder that none of those players have played an NHL game yet. The most recent high-impact Senators pick was wing Tim Stutzle, who was taken No. 3 overall in 2020. He has 96 goals and 247 points in 285 games over the past four seasons. Also that year, Ottawa selected D Jake Sanderson No. 5 overall; he made the All-Rookie team in the 2022-23 season and followed that with 38 points and a plus-8 rating this season.
USA Today photo by Jerome Miron
The Ottawa Senators own seven picks in the 2024 NHL Draft. They will select No. 7, No. 25, No. 39, No. 103, No. 112, No. 117 and No. 135 overall. They can also obtain Florida’s fourth-round pick, conditional on whether the Panthers go on to win the Stanley Cup. Ottawa traded its picks in the third, sixth and seventh rounds. The Senators will select in the first round for the first time since 2021.
During the 2023 NHL Draft, the Senators selected Victoria (BCHL) defenceman Hoyt Stanley for their first pick of that draft in the fourth round, 108th overall. Stanley hasn’t played in an NHL game, just like all of the Senators’ draft picks since 2021 except C Zack Ostapchuk (seven games).
Author
Jim Tomlin is an editor and writer specializing in sports, gambling and the intersection of those industries. He has 30+ years of journalism experience and his work has appeared in the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition.
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