We drafted a defensively responsible, big, edgy center that happens to be the son of one of our former star players and a big, rugged, talented defenseman who will mentor under Dale Hunter next season. We used some assets to trade up to claim these two prospects and we will develop them through our systems and believe they will both play in the NHL in two to three years time.
We have used the most first round picks of any team in the NHL now over the last seven years. This is a big part of our overall strategy to use the draft to feed our system and add depth to the team. We always want players who are young to be pushing players that are coming off of contract. We always want to have lots of assets developing as it gives us “optionality” for trades in the future as well.
I will personally miss Steve Eminger and thank him for his contributions to our team.
