2011 National Hockey League Entry Drafts (Part 3)
Ottawa Senators: Jonathan Huberdeau
Senators had one of the poorest seasons in the history of the franchise.
It was good in the opening part of the season and the final part but the middle and the most important part was where it was unable to match other teams in every department, especially the offence.
When Senators will be looking at the next season it would prefer going for offensive players as it managed to score only 190 goals in 82 games it played during the season.
This was the second lowest goals scored by a team in the season. Senators was able to bag some important performances in the last few games of the season but the games that it won were mostly by 1-0.
It is certainly on the rebuilding stage and Jonathan Huberdeau can for sure be the first step towards that.
He has been absolutely brilliant during the last season that he spent with the Saint John’s Sea Dogs. He piled up a huge total of 105 points and the even dangerous thing about this is the fact that out of the 105 points, 43 of these came as a result of scoring
goals.
Though Senators won’t be able to rely on his physical game as he weighs only 171 pounds, standing at 6’1, but the talent he possess accommodates for the physical aspect of his game.
Senators brought in Craig Anderson to guard the goal at the trade deadline and he has certainly proved to be worthy of it.
Ever since he has come to the team, its defence seems to be more organised and hasn’t allowed as many goals as it was conceding early in the season.
Anderson was named the star of the game several times during the season and made the vulnerable defence into a better one if not the best.
Now, if Senators add Huberdeau in the squad, then don’t be surprised to see goals up front from this man as Senators piles up decent results.
New York Islanders: Dougie Hamilton
Islanders is another one of the teams that has had offensive and defensive problems despite the fact that it has a lot of young talent in the team and is expecting someone to carry both the departments.
There is a high probability that Islanders would prefer going for a defensive player as it looks to seal the goal from the backline.
Dougie Hamilton perfectly suits Islanders if it wants to concentrate on the defensive side of the game.
He is a well built player standing at 6’4” and weighs 193 pounds, giving him significant edge over his competitors.
Hamilton played in a league where there were goals from all around with the forwards emerging as the dominating force. Considering the tough conditions, he still managed to come up with a +35 defensively for his junior team.
Islanders will be glad to learn the fact that this player is loaded with a little offensive weaponry that has witnessed him scoring 12 goals during his last season with his junior team. Not only this, but he ended the season with an impressive 46 assists.
He is the best option for Islanders as he is very dangerous during the power-plays, something which Islanders’ players lack.
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