Weekly Question: Who Should the Ottawa Senators Take 5th Overall?

While the 3rd overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft will become the best prospect in the Senators organization, there will be a more difficult decision to make at 5th overall.

Barring a drastic change of some kind, Alexis Lafrenière will be selected 1st overall by the New York Rangers, with Quinton Byfield and Tim Stützle rounding out the top three in no particular order. After that, your guess is as good as mine. There’s a ton of disagreement on who should go fourth overall and onward. It all comes down to personal preference, which begs the question: who do you want the Ottawa Senators to take with the 5th overall pick?

If the Senators are looking to take a forward at 5th overall, there are plenty of available options. Winger Lucas Raymond is highly touted as a complete player, with high-end playmaking ability and skating. Centre Marco Rossi has a lot of the same things going for him, as he’s a fantastic playmaker in his own right, with a fantastic defensive game, along with a surprising amount of edge. Cole Perfetti and Alexander Holtz are pure offensive players, Perfetti for his tantalizing combination of vision, hands, and offensive awareness, while Holtz is equipped with one of the best shots in the entire class, and his talent for positioning himself to utilize that shot makes him an extremely dangerous sniper. Finally, Anton Lundell fits the mould of the two-way first-line centre that so many teams covet. His positioning is extraordinary, and this combined with his efficiency in the offensive zone make him one of the best drivers of play in the top Finnish league — as an 18-year-old!

There aren’t a lot of available defencemen at the top of this draft, but the right-shot Jamie Drysdale has been known as potential top-5 pick for over a year now. He’s what you’d expect from a high-end two-way defensemen, complete with elite mobility, strong vision and passing, and excellent use of his stick on defence. As for left-handed defender Jake Sanderson, he’s moved up on various rankings a lot throughout the season for good reason. While he lacks the offensive skillset of Drysdale and multiple other defencemen in the 2020 class, his skating and puck movement are still efficient. Moreover, his defensive prowess is staggering, especially one-on-one.

Having so many options at 5th overall is a blessing, without a doubt. Even if the player they draft doesn’t end up being better than some of the other options, he’ll absolutely be a key piece of the Senators’ core going forward. Of these seven players, one will be taken by the Detroit Red Wings, and six of them will be available at 5th overall. Which one do you prefer?

Who is your preferred pick at 5th overall?