Sens Draft History: Part 1

While it's undeniable that the 2020 NHL draft is the biggest in the history of the Ottawa Senators, the Sens have taken part in 28 previous editions of the draft.

The Sens' draft history is rich: Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Phillips, Erik Karlsson Mark Stone, Colin White, Alexei Yashin. The list goes on and on.
As the Senators march into the 2020 edition of the draft with 12 picks, here's part one of a quick year-by-year recap of the Sens' draft history.
1992
The Sens' first ever draft class was highlighted by Russian star Alexei Yashin who Ottawa selected second overall from Dynamo Moscow. He'd play 504 games in Ottawa, notching 491 points. A dynamic playmaker, he ranks fourth in points in franchise history, while his 94 points in 1998-99 are the fourth most in a season. The Sens also grabbed defenceman Patrick Traverse in the third round who suited up 117 times in Ottawa.
1993
Taken first overall, Alex Daigle played 301 games in a Sens uniform, tallying 172 points in the progress. His best season was arguably his rookie campaign of 1993-94 where he had 51 points, a total he'd match three years later. The Sens also grabbed Pavol Demitra 227th overall although he only played 59 games for the team before experiencing tremendous success with St. Louis.
1994
The 1994 draft class will be remembered by Sens fans for two reasons: Daniel Alfredsson and Radek Bonk. Alfie would go on to be one of the greatest Senators of all-time with his 1,108 points the most in team history. A six-time NHL All-Star, the Swede's 426 goals are the most ever by a Senator, as are his 682 assists. Bonk would spend 10 years in Ottawa, playing 689 games and is the team's highest Czech scorer with 399 points. Stanislav Neckar was also taken in this draft in the second round.
1995
We're cheating here slightly. The Sens drafted Bryan Berard first overall but he was traded without ever playing a game to the Islanders for Wade Redden who was selected second overall. After the fact, Redden would go on to have a tremendous career in Ottawa, suiting up 838 times, good for fourth most. He earned his two career All-Star selections during his time with the Sens and led the NHL in +/- in 2005-06 at +35 on the back of a career best 50-point effort.
1996
With the team's third first overall pick, the Sens grabbed a lifer, taking Chris Phillips. He'd play a franchise best 1,179 games in a Sens uniform, tallying 288 points in the process. 'Big Rig' is still associated with the Sens and was recently named the Executive Director of the Senators Community Foundation. Ottawa also nabbed Swedish winger Andreas Dackell in the third round, who would play 401 of his 613 career NHL games with the Sens. D-man Sami Salo was drafted 239th overall, playing 195 games.

1997
Marian Hossa was the pick 12th overall for the Senators and they made no mistake. Hossa would score 390 points in 467 games, and also made three NHL All-Star teams, before his blockbuster trade to Atlanta for Dany Heatley in 2005. Hossa was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame earlier this year. 1997 saw the Sens grab a couple of other Europeans, notably Magnus Arvedson, who played 393 games for Ottawa, and defenceman Karel Ruchunek.
1998
When one draft turns into two players spending more than two decades combined playing for the team that drafted them, that has to be considered a success. And that's what the Sens got with Mike Fisher and Chris Neil. Over his 15-year career, Neil played every one of his 1,026 NHL games with Ottawa. Fisher played 675 games with Ottawa over 11 seasons.
1999
With the 26th overall pick, the Sens got 298 games and 235 points out of Martin Havlat, including three straight 50+ point seasons. The Senators also grabbed fan favourite Chris Kelly 94th overall, where over two stints with the team, he played 545 times, the 10th most in team history.
2000
The new millennium started with Anton and Antoine. Volchenkov spent seven seasons in the Canadian capital while Vermette had five years in Ottawa. The latter's 13 short-handed goals are the fourth most in team history. The two combined to play 787 games for the franchise.
2001
2001 was a huge draft for the Senators that was highlighted by second overall pick Jason Spezza. His 687 points (in 686 games) are the second most in Ottawa history while his 71 assists in 2005-06 is the most in a single-season by a Senator. He is one of just two Senators to average at least a point-per-game (Dany Heatley is the other). Tim Gleason was taken 23rd overall but was swiftly traded to Los Angeles for two and a bit seasons of Bryan Smolinski while Ray Emery was selected 99th overall and whose 71 wins are the fourth most by a Sens goaltender. Christoph Scubert was drafted 127th overall and played four seasons in Ottawa.

2002
Safe to say we'll just keep moving forward here.
2003
This draft was bookended by first round pick Patrick Eaves (157 games) and ninth round goaltender Brian Elliott (130 games, 59 wins).
2004
First-rounder Andrej Meszaros spent just three years in Ottawa although his 39 points as a rookie earned him a spot on the NHL All-Rookie team. Danish winger Peter Regin was taken 87th overall and played parts of five seasons with the team.
2005
Defenceman Brian Lee was taken ninth overall and went on to play 169 games for Ottawa. More successfully, Colin Greening was a seventh-round pick and suited up 256 times for the Sens, enjoying a career-high 37-point campaign in 2011-12.
Check back for part two of the series on Sunday!