It's a big week for Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios and his amateur scouting staff. They'll gather to make a total of six amateur player selections this Friday and Saturday in the annual NHL Draft.

However, in a strange twist this year, Staios and his team won’t actually be at the draft.

In a classic case of trying to fix something that didn’t appear to be broken, the NHL has made a major change to decentralize the event. In other words, the Senators and the 31 other NHL teams will be staying home to make their selections. 

Here's how it's expected to play out.

Staios and his staff will meet somewhere in Ottawa on Friday and Saturday to make their selections remotely. They’ll begin with their first pick at 21st overall, relay that choice to a Senators employee in Los Angeles, and the selection will be announced by a special guest.

That guest could be a current or former player, or a celebrity with ties to the team. That's a trend the Senators may have nudged forward in 2020 when former Jeopardy host, the late Alex Trebek, announced Tim Stützle’s name in a recorded message.

The only exception to this new format will be the New York Islanders’ first overall pick, which Commissioner Gary Bettman will announce.

As for the players, the NHL has invited only the top 50 prospects to attend in person, based on the final rankings from NHL Central Scouting. Other prospects are welcome to go, but they didn't get a formal invitation.

Once the Senators make their first-round pick, the player will be brought into what the league is calling a “virtual hockey house,” complete with Senators branding in the background. There, through a two-way camera setup, the newest Senator will meet Staios and the rest of the staff for the first time, a virtual interaction that may be televised. There may also be a reporter in the room for a quick in-person interview with the player.

The move to this decentralized format was announced earlier this year, but by the time the GM meetings rolled around in March, some general managers had already begun to rethink it. It hasn’t turned out to be the cost-saver many had hoped, raising the possibility this could be a one-and-done experiment.

But it should be an interesting one, and one thing is certain. The incredible, high-tech 2024 Draft presentation at The Sphere in Las Vegas has left Los Angeles with an extremely tough (impossible) act to follow.

Your Handy 2025 Senators Draft Guide

After their splashy 21st overall selection, and barring a trade, Senators fans are in for a long wait before their next pick. Barring a trade, they won’t select again until the final pick of the third round, or 96th overall.

Here's what they have in their draft arsenal and how they acquired each pick:

Round Two:

They don’t have a second-round pick. It was packaged up back in March as part of the Fabian Zetterlund trade.

Round Three

They do have a third-round pick, but it’s not their own. The Sens traded away their original third-rounder last summer as a sweetener to convince the St. Louis Blues to take Mathieu Joseph’s contract off their hands.

The 2025 third-round pick they do have came from the Florida Panthers at last year’s deadline in the Vladimir Tarasenko deal. But its value dropped sharply over the past two months after Florida went on to win another Stanley Cup. So, it’s the final pick of the third round.

Round Four

While the Senators may hold the last pick of the third round, they’ll have the first pick in the fourth—originally belonging to the San Jose Sharks, the NHL’s worst team this season. That gives Ottawa back-to-back picks at 96 and 97.

The fourth-rounder came in the Zetterlund deal. The Senators dealt away their own fourth-round pick last July to the Edmonton Oilers as part of the Roby Jarventie trade, which brought back Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson.

Et cetera

The Senators then have one pick in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds, all their own.

Round one of the NHL Draft is set for this Friday night (June 27th) at 7pm in Los Angeles.

Steve Warne, Site Editor
The Hockey News Ottawa
(Banner image credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images)

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Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights continue to be paired together, and once again, Insider Elliotte Friedman had a lot to say when connecting the player and the organization. 

On Friedman's podcast, 32 Thoughts, the insider once again reiterated that, based on everything he is hearing, the Golden Knights are leading the race and are considered the front-runners, alongside the Carolina Hurricanes. 

“I think there's a lot of people just wondering about, is Vegas the team to beat here? “If you ask most people about Marner and where they think, you know, a lot of people are kind of like, they think, rightly or wrongly, they think that Vegas is the team to beat.”

As it stands, the 28-year-old is still with his hometown team and the team that drafted him fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, but come July. 1, Marner will be free to sign elsewhere. Throughout his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marner has been praised and cherished as a hometown hero, but he has also been ridiculed and criticized for his playoff performances and the perception that he drained the Maple Leafs for every dollar in his first contract.

Following his entry-level contract, Marner signed a six-year, $10.93-million AAV, making him the third-highest-paid player on the team and resetting the market. In the regular season, Marner was worth every cent, but in the playoffs, the Markham, ON native struggled to live up to his cap hit. In 70 career postseason games, Marner has scored 13 goals and 63 points, but in games 5-7, Marner has zero goals and just seven assists in 20 games. 

If Marner signs with the Golden Knights, he would instantly become their highest-paid player, although Jack Eichel could surpass him on his next deal. Some reports have stated that Marner may take his time with the process and doesn't feel pressured to sign on July 1st, which would build up the suspense and could cause a stressful offseason for the Golden Knights front office. 

Stay updated with the most interesting Golden Knights stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favourites on Google News to never miss a story.

Ilya Samsonov Won't Return To The Golden Knights; Testing Free AgencyGoaltender Ilya Samsonov will not return to the Vegas Golden Knights and will test the free agency waters,

In one week, NHL free agency opens, and changes are expected for the New Jersey Devils as general manager Tom Fitzgerald looks to provide his coaching staff with an improved roster come September. 

Head coach Sheldon Keefe led his team to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs but was eliminated in Game 5 of Round 1 at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. 

The Devils' core of Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier remain under contract. Still, Fitzgerald will once again scour both the trade and open market for the right complementary pieces.

Here is everything you need to know about next week:

When Does The NHL Draft & Free Agency Take Place?

The NHL Draft will be held later this week on June 27 and June 28, 2025, and will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California. 

New Jersey's first-round pick now belongs to the Calgary Flames as the result of the trade that sent goaltender Jacob Markstrom to the Devils in exchange for defenseman Kevin Bahl and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). 

The 2025 NHL free agency market will open at noon ET on Tuesday, July 1. 

How Much Cap Room Do The Devils Have To Work With? 

On June 18, the Devils cleared $3.15 million off the cap by trading veteran Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators. 

New Jersey currently has $14,394,167 to work with, and three restricted free agents, including Luke Hughes (21), Cody Glass (26), and Nolan Foote (24). 

Which Devils' Players Are Unrestricted Free Agents? 

Forwards: Nathan Bastian (27), Justin Dowling (34), Curtis Lazar (30), and Daniel Sprong (28).

Defensemen: Brian Dumoulin (33)

Goaltenders: Jake Allen (34) 

What Offseason Moves Have The Devils Made So Far? 

• Signed forward Arseniy Gritsyuk to a one-year, entry-level contract starting in 2025-26.
• Signed forward Lenni Hameenaho to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning in 2025-26.  
• Parted ways with Assistant Coaches Ryan McGill and Chris Taylor.
• Pending unrestricted free agent, Tomas Tatar signed overseas in Switzerland. 
• Added Brad Shaw to coaching staff.
• Signed forward Juho Lammikko to a one-year, one-way contract worth $800,000.
• Haula was traded to the Predators for defenseman Jeremy Hanzel and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

With regards to the Devils' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Utica Comets:

• Re-signed forward Nathan Légaré to a one-year, two-way contract.
• Defenseman Santeri Hatakka signed a two-year contract with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League. 
• Forward Filip Engaras signed with Södertälje SK in Sweden. 
• Parted ways with Head Video Coach Jerry Dineen and Utica Comets Assistant Coach David Cunniff.

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

The Mental Side of the Game: Devils Players & Mental Skills Coach Andy Swärd Take You Behind the Scenes

Hischier's Manager Patrick Fischer: 'He's Driven to Succeed, but Not Easily Satisfied'

Photo Credit: © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy will be immortalized with a bronze statue in his hometown of Quebec City. According to TVA’s Stéphane Turcot, the Saint-Patrick statue will be placed next to the Centre Videotron on Place Jean-Beliveau. There are already five statues by the arena: those of Jean Beliveau, Joe Malone, Guy Lafleur, Real Cloutier, and the Statsny brothers.

The work of art won’t depict the Canadiens’ legend wearing the Sainte-Flanelle, though; he will be depicted raising the Memorial Cup in 2023. Coaching the Quebec Remparts, Roy won two Memorial Cups and was the fastest coach ever to reach 500 wins in the QMJHL. He was the sixth coach to accomplish the feat, but he did it in just 815 games; the fastest coach to reach the milestone before him had done it in 948 games.

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For years, Roy also served as the Remparts' general manager, being fully in charge of the team’s destiny. While he left the junior outfit in 2013, he returned after coaching the Colorado Avalanche for three seasons, winning the Jack Adams Trophy as the top coach in his first year. He didn’t leave the Avalanche on the best of terms, however, walking away because he didn’t have enough of a say in player personnel decisions in August 2016. The way he quit left a blemish on his coaching jacket, and he would have to wait years to get another NHL coaching job.

His second stint as the Remparts’ coach lasted from the 2018-19 season to the end of the 2022-23 season, when the Remparts won the league’s championship. At that stage, Roy felt ready to return to the NHL and left, having accomplished everything he had set out to do in the QMJHL.

Wonderful work by the artists to immortalize not only the Stastny but Quebec’s love affair with table hockey #Stastny#tablehockey#proamgagnébergeronpic.twitter.com/vZZXHaKR7s

— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) August 9, 2019

He only had to wait for half a season before getting another opportunity in the NHL when the New York Islanders fired coach Lane Lambert in January 2024 and announced Roy as his replacement on January 20, 2024.  So far, he has led the Islanders to 55 wins in 119 games and taken them to the playoffs in his first season.

Considering the impact he made with the Remparts, the statue is a well-deserved recognition of his accomplishments. One can wonder if Casseau will also have a bronze statue by the Bell Center one day. As things stand, Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, and Guy Lafleur are the four great immortalized in bronze by the Bell Centre. Given that Roy was the main reason the Canadiens were able to win their last two Stanley Cups, one could argue that he deserves the honour.

Photo credit:  Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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