SBN 2011 NHL Mock Draft: Ottawa Senators select Jonathan Huberdeau
With the sixth overall pick in the 2011 SBN Mock Entry Draft, Silver Seven is pleased to select, on behalf of the Ottawa Senators, from the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major-Junior Hockey League, Jonathan Huberdeau.
The fact that Huberdeau slid to the Senators' at sixth overall was an offer too good to pass up. Plenty of good players were still available, but Huberdeau's success this season separated him from the crowd: He scored 43 goals and 105 points in the regular season, added 30P in 19GP in the QMJHL playoffs, and another 6P in 4GP during the Memorial Cup series. His team won the President's Trophy as champions of the QMJHL, and then went to and won the Memorial Cup as the top team in all of Canadian junior hockey. Over the course of the season, he was named to the QMJHL and Memorial Cup first all-star teams, and won the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the Memorial Cup Tournament MVP. Needless to say, it was a good year for Huberdeau.
But what would he mean for the Ottawa Senators?
First off, he'd be the top offensive prospect drafted since Jason Spezza was selected in the 2001 draft. Huberdeau would become the first truly offensive prospect in the Senators development system in ages, and will have the opportunity to play NHL hockey as early as the 2011-12 season if he can impress the new coach enough in the process. Whether or not he plays next season, he will spend the better part of the next decade under the tutelage of Spezza himself as a leading offensive pivot on the Senators, if he can translate his junior-level success into professional hockey.
Scouting reports:
Chris Bordeleau, NHL Central Scouting:
"He's the type of player who can change the outcome of a game suddenly and quickly. He's displayed unbelievably quick hands and an ability to set up and score goals. He definitely has NHL hands and playmaking ability . . . he's also gritty and does not back down when challenged."
Neate Seager, Yahoo! Buzzing the Net:
"The difference between Jonathan Huberdeau and Sean Couturier is one goes around defenders [Couturier] and the other bulls through them [Huberdeau]."
"I think Jonathan Huberdeau, the way that he has played in the second half of the season, especially the QMJHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup, is at least going to come into the discussion [of who should be drafted first overall]."
A glimpse of his skills: