Ottawa Senators 2026 Draft Class Is Better Than You Think

The 2026 NHL Draft is all wrapped up, and the Ottawa Senators have added eight promising prospects to their organization. However, the reaction to the Senators’ new draft class has been underwhelming. The Hockey Writers’ Jordan Orth gave the team a C, which tied for the lowest in the NHL, the same grade that Corey Pronman at The Athletic gave Ottawa, citing the huge risks with each of their picks. Stephen Ellis at Daily Faceoff was the least impressed, giving the Senators a C-, writing, “The only reason I’m not giving this a worse mark is because some scouts really believe in the upside of the first two picks.”

Not an especially glowing review. But the Senators weren’t looking to play it safe on the draft floor. They intentionally took some big swings on players they felt had the upside to be impactful NHL players down the road while acknowledging that they still need to grow significantly. Following the first round, general manager Steve Staios said, “We’re excited about how we were able to build in this draft with players with great upside. I think we’ve pushed that philosophy into this draft.”

After years of playing it safe under Pierre Dorion, it’s nice to see the Senators take some calculated risks with their picks and bet on a player hitting their very high potential. However, that resulted in a draft class with several unfamiliar names for fans, so let’s get to know the newest Senators.

Round 1 – Jonas Lagerberg Hoen and Jaxon Cover

With their two picks in the first round, the Senators selected two wingers, Jonas Lagerberg Hoen 25th and Jaxon Cover 32nd overall. The latter generally drew praise from observers due to his incredible journey so far, but the former caught a lot of analysts off guard, as most had him ranked somewhere in the 80-100 range, but the Staios explained that a few NHL teams saw Lagerberg Hoen as a first-round pick, and if the Senators waited, he probably would have been gone by pick 32.

“We felt he was a top-15 talent and did not want to miss out on that opportunity,” said Staios in his first-round press conference. “Just going into the process of not only identifying, but even through the interview process, speaking to people and players who were close to Jonas, they all identified him as a top-end player in Sweden, which was a strong draft class for them, and we’re excited about his upside. Checked out on all the medical, and he’s going to be ready to go here.”

Lagerberg Hoen missed most of the 2025-26 season with an ACL injury, which resulted in a much lower ranking than his skill level. But not everyone was sleeping on the talented Swede. Anders Östberg, the Senators’ European scout, compared his skillset to Filip Forsberg, while Will Scouch, who runs the website Scouching, placed Lagerberg Hoen at the tail end of his first round thanks to his “combination of size, speed, and efficiency.”

He was an absolute offensive machine on the puck through shooting and passing, and a constant individual threat with the puck at the U20 level. If he had stayed there all season, he may have come close to setting scoring records for a player his age, and I would’ve loved to see him play at the Swdish Hockey League (SHL) level had he not been hurt. He’s a tall, lanky and confident player with the ability to embarrass the opponent and while there isn’t much of a physical game to speak of, but that’s not really his job. He’s an offensive winger with size, range and skill, and I was very surprised with how impressed I was when watching his tape back at the end of the year.

Will Scouch, Scouching

Cover lined up more with what people expected from a late first-round pick, but the Senators emphasized that they were still betting on upside here, too. “I think the actual fact that five years ago he was playing roller hockey,” said Senators Head Scout Don Boyd about Cover’s rapid development. “It’s a great story, but we drafted him because we believe he’s got ability, we believe he’s got skill level, we believe he’s got a chance to be an offensive guy. He plays in a good program (London Knights). We know he’s going to get good coaching, we know he’s going to be managed well. He’s going to be held accountable for what he does and how he performs. That’s all part of the package.”

Both players are risky. Lagerberg Hoen’s injury will set him back in his development, and Cover has barely started his development path. That makes it incredibly difficult to know how these two will perform next season, but the Senators aren’t concerned with the immediate results. These are long-term projects, and if given enough time, they could be home-run picks.

Round 3, 72nd Overall – Adam Nemec, LW, Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

In the third round, the Senators added yet another hard-working winger in Adam Nemec, a player most expected to be gone at this point in the draft. He began the season playing in Slovakia’s top league, where he was the most productive teenager with 15 points in 28 games, but he was unsatisfied with his ice time. So, following the World Juniors, he joined the Sudbury Wolves in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), which was more than happy to have the two-way player. Since January, he was a point-per-game player since arriving in January and largely played with fellow Slovak and Los Angeles Kings’ 2025 pick Jan Chovan.

Nemec was criticized on his lack of a defining skill and looking more like a depth forward, but a big transition in the middle of his draft season likely prevented him from showcasing his full skillset, as he was busy adjusting for a good chunk of it. But what was clear was his ability to handle anything his coaches threw at him. “He made people around him better,” said Boyd. “He’s competitive, he can skate and he can handle the puck in traffic. There is some scoring there. He was able to perform. Not only did he make other people better, he got a lot of ice time and a lot of specialty teams and was able to perform, so he’s going back there next year.”

A season of consistency will really help Nemec become more comfortable and, hopefully, take some massive steps in his development. He’s a safer pick than the previous two, but there’s still an untapped offensive side to his game. If everything goes well, an 80-100 point OHL season isn’t out of the question.

Round 3, 87th Overall – Oscar Holmertz, C, Linköping HC (SHL)

“Oscar Holmertz has first-round talent,” wrote Owen Hillman in his prospect profile, “but the flaws in his game could prevent him from being a first-round selection.” That made him a perfect selection for the Senators. Like Nemec, Holmertz was generally regarded as a mid second-round pick, and the value he brought to the organization was too good to pass up with the 87th pick. While playing with Sweden’s U20 league, he scored the 10th-most goals (13) and the ninth-most points (36) among U18 players.

Yet it was his time in the SHL that impressed the Senators the most. Boyd praised Holmertz’s 11 games with Linköping’s top team, saying, “When the kids can go up there and get ice time, not even if they put up points, but they can actually get ice time, and they’re trusted in the organization by the coaches — because it’s no different, they have to win — he was trusted when he was called up.”

Holmertz didn’t put up a single point in his time in the SHL, but he played nearly 10 minutes against Färjestad BK and over five minutes against Rögle BK, two of the best teams in the league this season. He even managed to get a scoring chance in each game. He’s a great skater with excellent offensive instincts, and if he can improve his consistency, the Senators may have just found another gem in the third round.

Round 3, 91st Overall – Louis-Felix Bourque, RW, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)

The Senators went a little off the board with their final third-round selection, grabbing Louis-Felix Bourque from the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He began the season as a depth forward due to his 6-foot-2, 216-pound frame, but as he showed more offensive abilities, he was given more opportunities. By the end of the season, he was the team’s second-best centre, had been named February’s Rookie of the Month, and had the 10th-most points of any rookie. He’s got hockey sense and excellent strength, especially in his shot, and as long as he can smooth out his skating stride, he could be a very solid power forward.

Round 4, 110th Overall – Elliot Lennon, G, Deerfield Academy (USHS-MA)

Ottawa’s first truly off-the-board pick came with their only fourth-round selection. Elliot Lennon is a 6-foot-6 goalie from Quebec who spent most of this season at Deerfield Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, which has graduated the likes of Marty Reasoner, Alex Killorn, and Craig Janney. In 26 games, Lennon put up a .936 save percentage (SV%) and a 1.84 goals against average (GAA).

Those stats are pretty good, but they’re even better when considering that Lennon played all of Deerfield’s games. He started every game for Deerfield last season, too, finishing with a .926 SV% and a 2.04 GAA, as well as a reputation as a big-game performer. High school numbers are historically unreliable, but it’s worth pointing out that he now sits with the third-highest average in program history and well ahead of the school’s only NHL goaltender, Casey DeSmith, who had a .918 SV% during his one season there.

Lennon also went on to play two games in the United States Hockey League (USHL), which is where he’ll return next season before carrying on to Brown University in 2027-28. He’s a strong positional goalie who relies on quick reflexes and athleticism to make saves. He squares up to the shooter well, and his size and reach don’t leave a lot of scoring chances. He’s a project, but the skill is there. After all, Leevi Merilainen was an unknown when he was selected.

Round 5, 151st Overall – Harris Pangretitsch, RD, Soo Greyhounds (OHL)

After loading up on forwards, the Senators’ fifth-round pick selected a defenceman, taking Soo Greyhounds’ 6-foot-4 blueliner Harris Pangretitsch. Known for his hard-hitting, defensive game, he showed some surprising finesse, putting up two goals and 14 points, most of which came while star defenceman Chase Reid was out of the lineup. That earned Pangretitsch the Greyhounds Most Improved Player award, on top of achieving the Scholastic Award alongside Callum Croskery. He doesn’t have a high offensive ceiling, but as a shutdown defenceman and can move the puck well, which sounds a bit like Senators defenceman Tyler Kleven. That’s a good player to bet on.

Round 6, 183rd Overall – Alexander Grunin, LD, Novosibirsk (MHL)

The Senators’ final pick took them back to Europe for 6-foot-4 left-shot defenceman Alexander Grunin. Like Pangretitsch, he hasn’t shown a ton of offensive upside – he had 15 points in 44 games in the MHL this season – but the Senators were happy with his upside. “He’s again, a long, tall, lean defenceman that is a puck mover,” said Boyd. “He can move the puck through the neutral zone, he can move it out of the D-zone… there’s probably a little bit more there than meets the eye.” The pick is reminiscent of last year’s fifth-round selection of Dmitri Isayev, who emerged as one of the MHL’s top scorers this season. Might as well stick with what works.

A Shift in Draft Philosophy

Under Dorion, the Senators selected big, tough players with high floors and lower ceilings. Unfortunately, that left them with a very weak prospect pool after their skill guys graduated. Tyler Boucher still hasn’t played NHL games, and second-rounders Filip Nordberg and Ben Roger haven’t worked out, with the latter never earning an entry-level deal.

But since Staios took over, the team has looked at players who have a lot of room left to grow. “Our scouts have done a great job bringing in talent,” he said in his post-draft press conference, “but I was stretching it with them to push them on upside. I think it’s easier when you’re scouting and you’re going to the draft, to feel more comfortable to pick a player who’s a little bit further along, a little bit stronger, a little bit more mature, and we had lots of conversations about that, about upside and potential and how we could build off the talent.”

Even after the Brady Tkachuk trade, the Senators are a playoff team. They don’t need prospects ready to come up and play with them next season – they have those players already. They need high skill who can potentially take over once the current core begin to take a step back. Staios has done an excellent job at looking at the teams like the Carolina Hurricanes who have succeeded and emulated their draft strategy. In just two years, that’s given Ottawa players like Blake Montgomery, Javon Moore, and Lucas Beckman. This year’s draft class is sure to have more players join that group of breakout stars, we just need to be patient.