Sens pick up three players in first round of NHL entry draft; pick up Filatov on Day Two

Ottawa Senators acquire forward Nikita Filatov from the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 66th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

In 23 games with Columbus last season he had seven assists.

The Senators made three trips to the podium yesterday as the first round was completed in St.Paul, Minnesota.

The Ottawa Senators first selected centre Mika Zibanejad with the sixth pick.
    
The 18-year-old Swede had five goals and four assists in 26 games with Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite League last season.
    
Zibanejad added 12 goals and nine assists in 27 games with Djurgarden’s junior team.
    
The six-foot Zibanejad, whose mother is Finnish and father is Iranian, speaks Swedish, Finnish and English.

The Sens then chose 18-year-old Stefan Noesen of the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers 21st overall with the pick they acquired from Nashville as part of the Mike Fisher trade.

Noesen, originally from Plano, Texas, moved to Northville, Michigan after being attracted to the Compuware Youth Program. He spent two seasons with the Compuware Under-16 team, winning a national championship in 2009.

The six-foot right winger had 34 goals in 68 games last season with the Whalers.

And, in a last minute swap, the Ottawa Senators traded picks with the Detroit Red Wings giving them one more choice in the first round.  They selected 18-year-old Matt Puempel of the OHL’s Peterborough Petes.

Puempel was the youngest player in the history of the Petes’ to score 33 goals in a season. The Peterborough sniper led all OHL rookies in scoring with 64 points in 59 games en route to capturing both OHL and CHL Rookie of the Year honors in 2009-10.

The six-foot left winger, originally from Essex, ON had 34 goals in 55 games with the Pete’s last season making him a “back to back” 30 plus goal scorer.  

Sens fans will be hoping that he, and his new team mates can translate all their Junior successes onto the ice at Scotiabank Place next season.