In the hockey world, pretty much every expert will tell you the same thing. Before you can gauge the true value of a draft, you have to wait five years.
On Tuesday, October 6, and Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the Ottawa Senators experienced two days that would transform the face of their team.
We couldn't really know at the time how good that draft was.
Today, we do.
In total, over the course of two days, the Senators' scouts selected 10 players. As the 2025-26 season begins, five of them are part of the team. They all have important roles to play. Three others had the chance to play a few games with the team before moving on elsewhere.
It's hard to ask for more!
"It's cool. In fact, it's crazy to think that it's already been five years. It's crazy to think that we were only 17 at the time," says Jake Sanderson. "I think we have to give credit to the Ottawa scouts. Sometimes scouts get it right. Sometimes they get it wrong. In this case, we have to recognize that they got it right."
Sanderson, an American defenseman who maybe flew under the radar, was the Senators' second pick in the 2020 draft. The scouts selected him fifth overall. Minutes earlier, with the third overall pick, they had already secured a promising center playing in Germany, Tim Stützle.
Later, before the end of the first round, they managed to get another promising forward from Western Canada, Ridly Greig.
The next day, during a very busy day, they managed to select defenseman Tyler Kleven and goaltender Leevi Meriläinen.
"It's cool, but you know, Timmy would be the first to say that we're still pushing to keep moving forward. We all think the same way. We're not satisfied, " Sanderson said.
Timmy and Sandy already knew each other
Stützle already felt that way at the time. On the evening of October 6, he settled into a restaurant near his home, knowing he was one of the top prospects in the draft. He wasn't sure when he would be called, but he had spoken with the managers of the teams that held the first three picks.
Stützle was then a member of the Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Still of school age, he had chosen to continue his development by playing professional hockey in the best league in his native country.
That evening marked the beginning of his future in North America. It also gave him the opportunity to celebrate the end of his European journey with all the people who had supported him.
"For me, the most important thing was to spend that evening with my family," he says. And the word ‘family’ has a very broad meaning. "I invited my teammates. I'm talking about the guys I've been playing with professionally in Mannheim for the past year, but also the guys I grew up with. They all helped me get to where I am today. They all played a role, at one point or another, on the road to the draft."
And Stützle clearly had no shortage of support over the years.
"I don't remember all the details of the evening, but I think there were more than 150 people there! "
His teammates continued to help Stützle on draft night.
The Senators had asked Alex Trebek, the popular host of the game show Jeopardy!, to announce their selection. "I had no idea who this man was, " Stützle recalls. "Luckily, my Canadian teammates in Mannheim were able to explain it to me. "
Interestingly, before the evening was over, Stützle was able to continue the celebrations with a new friend.
He had begun to form a friendship with Sanderson a few weeks before the draft.
"We had started talking a few weeks earlier. I was following him on Instagram and he was following me too," he says, without offering any further details.
Sanderson has slightly more specific memories of how this friendship began.
"I think we had participated in an interview together a few weeks before the draft. A few prospects had participated in a Zoom interview with Wayne Gretzky, and Tim was part of that group. I don't remember exactly how, but we got back in touch in the days that followed. We got into the habit of exchanging a few text messages. So I had his contact information when we were drafted to the same team."
At the time, it was strictly a virtual friendship. The two players met in person for the first time two months later in Edmonton, in a hotel hallway during the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Thousands of miles away from where the big party was happening for Stützle, Sanderson was also surrounded by friends and family. At Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota, his teammates cheered when he was selected.
The young defenseman, however, was not particularly expressive when seen on television.
"I was nervous," he said.
"I wouldn't say I knew I would be drafted by Ottawa, but let's just say I had a pretty good idea," he says.
Once again, friends more or less let the cat out of the bag.
In 2020, the Senators were already counting on two players who were playing at the University of North Dakota. Jacob Bernard-Docker was the team's second first-round pick in the 2018 draft. A year later, Shane Pinto was selected at the very beginning of the second round. These players, you see, were in regular contact with the Senators, their scouts, and their management.
"I knew the Senators talked about me a lot with Shane. They asked JBD a lot of questions about me," Sanderson said. "I had spoken with team management a few times myself."
In short, Sanderson was somewhat expecting to end up in Ottawa. All these conversations allowed him to ignore the numerous projections that were circulating online in the weeks leading up to the draft. Everyone who was having fun predicting the outcome of the first round expected him to be selected a little later.
"I think most experts expected my name to be called around the 10th pick," Sanderson said. "It's kind of funny to look back on it now. You know, I didn't really care about any of the predictions. I was just happy to see my name on all those lists. I still had a feeling I would be drafted a little earlier."
"It was the same for Tim, when you think about it. At the time, I thought he would be the first player selected in that draft. Looking back today, that's probably what should have happened."
A plane to catch
Tyler Kleven was among the players who cheered when Sanderson was drafted fifth overall by the Senators. In the fall of 2020, at the age of 18, he had just started his first season with the North Dakota men's hockey team.
The team's management had also opened the doors of the Ralph Engelstad Arena for him. He was also one of the most promising prospects in the draft.
"I expected to be drafted at the beginning of the second round or towards the end of the first round. I would say that was my goal," he said.
"When I wasn't drafted on the first day, it was a bit of a letdown."
Kleven was nevertheless happy for his teammate and dorm neighbor Sanderson.
When the second day of the draft began, he was a little nervous when he returned to the arena. He was eager to find out in which city his professional career would begin, but that wasn't all.
"I had a plane to catch," he said.
On October 7, 2020, players hoping to earn a spot on the U.S. national team for the World Junior Hockey Championship were scheduled to meet in Michigan. The ticket had been booked long ago. Everything was planned. The draft was the only variable that Kleven and his entourage couldn't control.
How long would he have to wait?
"With every second that passed, I thought I was going to miss my flight," Kleven recalls.
The Senators, in the midst of rebuilding, had three second-round picks. When it came time to make their second selection, at No. 44, they got lucky. The second left-handed defenseman they wanted was still available.
It was time.
"When I was finally drafted, I had time to celebrate a little bit with my family. I rushed out, grabbed my suitcase, and sprinted to the airport."
He didn't miss his flight. "But it was close."
Fortunately, when he arrived, a friend was waiting for him at the gate. Jake Sanderson, his college teammate—and future pro teammate—calmed him down, telling him he wasn't late. A little later, during the flight, they were able to compare their knowledge of Canada's capital and imagine their future together with his hockey club.
