New Protection List, CN Tower Betrayal, Latest Mock Draft
The Thursday edition of Links, News, and Notes!
Here are some of the more noteworthy links, news, and notes from Thursday:
- Ian Mendes of The Athletic goes over his most recent edition of what the Ottawa Senators protection list could/should look like. The locks (Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, Nick Paul, Connor Brown, Thomas Chabot, Victor Mete) are of course the same, but with Vitaly Abramov signing in the KHL, that changes some things for the players on the bubble. Ian’s layout isn’t exactly what I would do (e.g. exposing Evgenii Dadonov), but he does seem like he has a good grasp on what the team could do.
- Can you imagine the city of Ottawa decorating the Parliament buildings with some sort of Toronto Maple Leafs memorabilia? I don’t blame Torontonians for being bewildered by this gesture from the CN Tower.../
Tonight the #CNTower will be lit red, blue, and white for the @CanadiensMTL who will go on to represent Canada's hope for a 2021 @NHL Stanley Cup! pic.twitter.com/cEqsXqBefZ
— CN Tower/La Tour CN (@TourCNTower) June 8, 2021
- The Montreal Canadiens are the first Canadian team to make the Conference Finals since the Winnipeg Jets did in 2018, and they will try to become the first Canadian team to win the Cup since 1993. However, this one feels quite different because of the strange North Division. I’m just excited to see how they actually match up against either Vegas or Colorado.
- In Craig Button’s latest Mock Draft, he has the Senators taking Centre Mason McTavish 10th overall. The centre has been rising up the rankings over the past few months, so I’m not even sure if he’ll be available at 10, but he does seem like somebody that Ottawa would select.
- The Minnesota Wild made an interesting hire today that is somewhat relevant to the Senators:/
The #mnwild today named Ray Shero Senior Advisor to the General Manager. pic.twitter.com/DyhEoMPWAl
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) June 9, 2021
Ottawa had previously been searching for a President of Hockey Operations in order to assist Pierre Dorion and be more of the face for media, but that search has been on hiatus for quite some time. Ray Shero’s name was mentioned, although who knows if he was even willing to come to Ottawa. An advisor isn’t quite the same as a POHO, but I think Dorion could certainly benefit from another veteran executive in the front office.
- Our old pal Mark Stone scored the OT winner on Tuesday night in order to put the Golden Knights up 3-2 in their series against the Avalanche. If they win one of the next two games, three of the four conference finalists from last year will have made it back (Tampa Bay, New York, Vegas). I feel like that hasn’t happened in a few decades considering how much parity there is nowadays.
- The Senators released a statement today regarding the senseless murder of four Muslims in London, Ontario:/
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) June 9, 2021
It’s awful that statements like that even need to be said, but at least the organization is coming out and saying something. I do think their words and actions could be put to better use (e.g. their response to Black Lives Matter), but taking a stance is at least the first step. Also, it’s clear that these things can and do happen in Canada, and we need to do more at every level of society to prevent these kinds of terrorist attacks. I’m just heartbroken for their friends and family.
