Revisiting the Ottawa Senators 2023 Draft – The Hockey Writers Senators Prospects Latest News, Analysis & More

The 2023 NHL Draft could go down as one of the worst draft classes in the history of the Ottawa Senators. After yet another frustrating season, the team ended up with the 11th overall selection, which is not where they hoped they would be after a long, painful rebuild that started in 2017-18. But instead of adding more talented prospects to a depleted farm system, many of the Senators’ early picks were moved for nothing except cap relief, which was immediately spent on overpriced veteran free agents. The picks that remained were used on low-ceiling players that met organizational needs.

However, looking back, it’s clear that those players haven’t done enough to strengthen the team’s depth so far in their careers. So, with many of the prospects still in the Senators’ system, let’s take a look at the 2023 draft class and how all the players selected on that day have developed.

4th Round, 108th Overall – Hoyt Stanley, Right Defence

The Senators’ first pick didn’t come until the fourth round, their lowest first selection in franchise history. With it, they selected right defenceman Hoyt Stanley from the British Columbia Hockey League’s (BCHL) Victoria Grizzlies. A toolsy 6-foot-2 defender, he showed some intriguing upside but plenty of raw skill that needed to improve to become an effective NHL player.

That assessment didn’t change much after his first season with Cornell University. He played in all 35 games, which is impressive for a freshman, and he put up two goals and 10 points, the third-highest on the team, while his 22 penalty minutes ranked fifth. All those are on par with his play in the BCHL the season before. But with Hoyt’s defensive presence, Cornell claimed an ECAC Championship, defeating their first-round opponent in the NCAA Frozen Four Tournament before losing to the University of Denver in the second round. His sophomore season hasn’t gone as smoothly, though, with most of his offence drying up while Cornell has struggled. He’s still developing into a solid prospect, but there’s less hope he brings an offensive element to higher levels.

5th Round, 140th Overall – Matthew Andonovski, Left Defence

The Senators selected another defenceman with their next pick, taking Matthew Andonovski from the Kitchener Rangers 140th overall. A smart, competitive player, he became more of an enforcer in his third Ontario Hockey League (OHL) season, jumping up from 86 penalty minutes in 2022-23 to 124 this season. However, his toughness didn’t detract from his effectiveness, finishing with seven goals, 35 points, and the highest plus/minus score in the league with a plus-58.

Related: Senators’ 2023 Draft Class Full of Question Marks

Andonovski’s development into a top junior defenceman gave the Rangers the freedom to trade away fellow Senators’ pick Tomas Hamara early in the season. However, he wasn’t as effective in the playoffs, scoring just one assist and finishing with a minus-2 in 10 games. Those struggles have continued into 2024-25, even after he was named the Rangers’ captain, and hasn’t been as strong without Hunter Brzuustewicz on his right side. There is still the potential that he becomes a bottom-pairing defender who can round out the blue line with some leadership and toughness, but the chances are becoming increasingly less likely.

7th Round, 204th Overall – Owen Beckner, Centre

The first of three seventh-round picks, the Senators grabbed 6-foot-2 center Owen Beckner from the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. In 2022-23, he was a point-per-game player, which he continued in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Tri-City Storm. In 61 games, he scored 14 goals and 45 points, placing him third on the team. However, his inconsistent effort and offensive awareness also stuck with him, and he had a team-low minus-15. As a freshman at Colorado College, he’s been fine, putting up seven points in his first 16 games. For a seventh-round pick, that’s about as good as you can expect.

7th Round, 207th Overall – Vladimir Nikitin, Goaltender

With the pick acquired from the Nashville Predators in the Erik Gudbranson trade, the Senators selected little-known Kazakh goalie Vladimir Nikitin, who had a strong performance at the 2023 U18 D1A World Juniors, helping them earn a promotion to the top group in 2024, but had spent the rest of the season in Kazakhstan’s junior league. However, two weeks before the draft, he had committed to joining the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, which made him worth the risk.

As the team’s backup, Nikitin didn’t play very frequently but remained consistent in his appearances. From Oct 7, 2023, to March 2, 2024, he didn’t lose a single game in regulation, and in his 15 starts, he only dipped below a .900 save percentage (SV%) five times. In 25 total games, he finished with a promising .898 SV% and a 15-6-3 record with a shutout. He also had the 12th lowest goals-against average with a 2.76. Unfortunately, he decided to return home for 2024-25, where he’s struggled in Russia’s junior league, recording a .884 SV% over 12 games. Goalies are notoriously difficult to predict, and given his athleticism and 6-foot-4 frame, he could be worth keeping around, but his lack of playing time is concerning.

7th Round, 215th Overall – Nicholas Van Tassell, Right Wing

The Senators acquired a third seventh-round pick when they traded Tyler Motte to the New York Rangers, which they used to select Nicholas Van Tassell, a 19-year-old with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. His offensive totals were fine and he demonstrated some slick puck skills, but his 6-foot-4 frame was the most intriguing.

This season, he moved to the University of Massachusetts, where he played 24 games, scored one goal and one assist, and registered 19 penalty minutes. He also followed the pattern of several of the Senators’ picks before him and posted a team-low plus/minus with a minus-4. UMass also qualified for the Frozen Four tournament but lost out in the first round to Denver. So far, he doesn’t look like a future NHLer, which is typical for a late-draft pick, but it’s a bit tougher to stomach when a team makes only five picks.

All the Traded Picks

It’s impossible to review the Senators’ 2023 NHL Draft without looking at the moves that left them with so few picks. Under the opinion that the rebuild was over in Ottawa, former general manager Pierre Dorion flipped the team’s first, second, third, and sixth-round picks for immediate help that never really came.

The 12th overall pick was sent to the Arizona Coyotes for Jakob Chychrun, which was initially seen as a bargain. A top pairing defenceman for just three picks, and only one in the first round? Any team would do that. With the pick, the Coyotes selected Russian forward Daniil But, which was a surprise and certainly helped the trade in Ottawa’s favour. It didn’t take long for opinions to sour, though. After struggling defensively and failing to find consistency in Ottawa, Chychrun was traded to the Washington Capitals for right-handed defender Nick Jensen in the 2024 off-season. Meanwhile, But finished fourth among U20 players in the KHL in 2023-24 with 10 goals and 21 points in 55 games, and in 2024-25, he’s been one of Yaroslavl’s best players. With how the Senators are doing, they sure could use a physical top-scoring winger like that in their system.

Both the 44th and 76th picks were traded to get out of bad contracts. The Senators’ second-round pick was sent to the Chicago Blackhawks along with Nikita Zaitsev, and the third-round pick was sent with Matt Murray to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Zaitsev has continued to struggle, scoring just seven points in 38 games, and spending most of the 2023-24 season on the injured reserve. Murray looked much better in Toronto in his first 26 games but soon was back to his old self, spending all but three games on the injured reserve, all of which were played in the American Hockey League (AHL), which is where he stayed for 2024-25.

As for the picks, the Blackhawks selected Roman Kantserov, who was fifth in U20 scoring in the KHL but broke out in the playoffs with 13 points in 23 games for Magnitogorsk, leading all teenagers by nine points. He kept up that pace the following season with the highest point-per-game pace on the team. The Maple Leafs later traded the Senators’ pick to the St. Louis Blues in the Ryan O’Reilly deal, who selected Juraj Pekarcik. The Slovak had a successful rookie season with the USHL, but, like Kantserov, he was much better in the playoffs, leading the team with 10 points in 11 games. The following season, he left for the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s (QMJHL) Moncton Wildcats, where he too has been one of the team’s best players.

The final pick traded before the draft was the Senators’ sixth-round pick, 172nd overall, which was sent to the Philadelphia Flyers for Patrick Brown, who only played 18 games with the Senators before leaving during free agency. The Flyers used their new pick to select Ryan Macpherson, who played with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL and finished his rookie season with 16 goals and 38 points in 54 games and joined the University of New Hampshire in 2024-25. Again, a typical late pick, but a little painful in the Senators’ case.

While it’s too early to say that this is definitively the Senators’ worst draft class as there are a couple of players who could emerge as depth contributors in the future, there’s not a lot of potential among the players selected. Many of them have some significant defensive concerns, which doesn’t bode well for a team in desperate need of a better defensive structure. Regardless of how things turn out, the 2023 Draft will be remembered as a class of safe picks and wasted potential when the team needed drastic changes.