Silver Nuggets: Draft weekend aftermath

The draft weekend is over, and what an exciting weekend it was. For the third time in four years, Bryan Murray obtained a Swedish player with his first draft pick. First he drafted Erik Karlsson in 2008, then he traded his pick for David Rundblad in 2010, and this year he selected Mika Zibanejad sixth overall. In a few years from now, we could have the following players on the ice at once: Robin Lehner, David Rundblad, Erik Karlsson, Jakob Silfverberg, Mika Zibanejad and a Swede to be named later.

Here are today's links:

General Sens News

• Hockey Prospectus' Corey Pronman reviews the draft weekend for the Northeast Division. He sees Mika Zibanejad as a two-way player that can play on the first line. He didn't like the second pick for Stefan Noesen however, seeing him topping out as a bottom six player. Overall, he sees the Senators coming away with some decent players, but not necessarily many with a lot of upside. One thing I would like to add is, Pronman has Zibanejad listed as a winger, so there is the chance of him playing with Spezza. (Hockey Prospectus)
• Here is the Globe and Mail's review of three eastern Canadian clubs. They feel the Senators took a step forward in their rebuilding efforts. (Globe and Mail)
• Nichols gives the Sens an "A" grade for drafting several forwards that address the severe shortage of top six talent in the Senators organisation. (The 6th Sens)
• With the Binghamton Senators winning the Calder Cup, and a generally accepted strong showing at the draft, the Senators future should be a lot brighter. (Sportsnet)
• This isn't to say everyone was happy with the Sens draft weekend. Senshot thinks the Senators might regret passing on Sean Couturier, as they might have in the past for drafting Brian Lee instead of Marc Staal, or Jared Cowen instead of Ryan Ellis. (Senshot)
• Don Brennan feels Mika Zibanejad is a lot like Mike Fisher and hopes he has a lot more offensive upside than Fisher, because Sean Couturier does. He also feels that with so many Swedes on the roster, the Senators might get roughed up by someone like a Brad Marchand. Honestly, I don't like Marchand's chances against Robin Lehner. It's also funny how first he says Zibanejad might be more tough than skilled compared to Couturier, then implies because he is Swedish that he might be too soft. (Ottawa Sun)
• Let's not forget that Brennan called Erik Karlsson a player "tough to get excited about." That gives us a really good idea exactly what his opinion is worth. (Slam! Sports)
• Can the Senators get more out of the "enigmatic" Nikita Filatov than Columbus managed? Of course, when you start saying enigma, the Alex Kovalev comparisons will flow. Still, Filatov didn't just have problems in Columbus, he was also stripped of his captaincy by the Russian junior team. Having said that, it's a no risk, high win situation for Ottawa. (Ottawa Citizen)
• Because the Senators don't have enough fourth line players... should we target Zenon Konopka? He did play for the 67s you know. (Ottawa Sun)
• For those of you in Ottawa, Silver Seven commenter AlfieGirl will be talking about the Sens at 3:00 on CBC Radio One. (CBC Radio)

More after the jump.

General Hockey News

• The number of enforcers in the NHL is decreasing. Only Chris Neil and Zenon Kenopka received over 200 penalty minutes this season. (NewsOK)
• There were a record four Swedes taken in the top ten of the 2011 draft and a total of six in the first round. (Bloomberg)
• Meanwhile, the number of Russian players being drafted has reduced dramatically, though it still increased to eight this year from the four taken last year. Still, if an NHL club can convince Russians to stay, they will have a big advantage over other clubs. If only eight Russians are being picked, you could really be drafting second round talent in the seventh round. The two top rated prospects for the 2012 draft, Mikhail Grigorenko and Nail Yakupov, however are Russian. (Globe and Mail)

How did you feel about Bryan Murray's draft picks and the trade for Nikita Filatov?