Recapping the Ottawa Senators at the 2012 Entry Draft: Video feature

The Ottawa Senators addressed depth at every position at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft last weekend, selecting a couple of goalies, three defencemen, and two forwards.

• First round (15 overall) D Cody Ceci
• Third round (76 overall) G Chris Driedger
• Third round (82 overall) C Jarrod Maidens
• Fourth round (106 overall) D Timothy Boyle
• Fifth round (136 overall) F Robbie Baillargeon
• Sixth round (166 overall) G Francois Brassard
• Seventh round (196 overall) D Mikael Wikstrand

Two of the players, Ceci (from Orleans) and Brassard (from Gatineau) are local products, and only one player was Swedish, indicating that perhaps the Senators are adopting a new draft strategy.

Although we tried to offer comprehensive coverage, we missed out on a few of the later-round picks. Luckily, the Senators--through their Sens TV applet--did a pretty amazing job providing on-the-floor interviews and scouting reports with each of the team's picks.

First up, Ottawa's own Cody Ceci being interviewed by Ottawa's own James Duthie on TSN, with Shawville's own Bryan Murray in there too:

Ceci's scouting report is as a big and dynamic offensive defenceman--and he looked pretty excited to be drafted by the hometown team.

Some of Ottawa's best reporters scrummed around Ceci after the draft, asking him such deep-probing questions as, "Do you live with your parents?" and "What highway exit do you take to get home?" Make sure you don't miss this video:

With no picks in the second round, Sens fans had to wait until the third round for their team's next pick, Dreidger, who's expected to start with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen next season. Sens TV has no personal interviews with him, but team scout George Fargher spoke about why the Sens drafted the Winnipeg-born goalie:

And here's Jarrod Maidens, the team's second third-round pick, speaking to the media. Maidens, you may recall, was once expected to go quite high in the draft, but fell all the way to the third round due to some concussion problems. This interview offers a glimpse of how difficult it must be for a kid like him to wait so long to hear his name, but also the relief that comes with finally being drafted. He seems like a really genuine, likable kid, and talks a lot about proving himself--something I like to hear. He seems motivated, so I've got high hopes for him--hopefully he can get healthy again.

Tim Boyle, brother of Brian Boyle of the Rangers, was selected in the fourth round and is another skilled defenceman joining Ottawa's system--although he's still a ways off, according to Sens scouts. He's heading to Union College to play for the Union Dutchmen (seriously) in the NCAA next year. Here's scout Bob Janecyk on Boyle:

In the fifth round the Sens picked Robert Baillargeon from Springfield, Massachusetts, a skilled forward who's heading to Boston University for the fall of 2013. Maybe I'm reading too much into the video, but he seemed... less than enthused to be interviewed like this. Still, sounds like a project player who will be a good player if his development goes according to plan.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Senators drafted two goaltenders in the same year, and Francois Brassard--interestingly, the son of Le Droit sports editor Marc Brassard--in the sixth round. He'll return to the Quebec Remparts next season. If you're bilingual, you may enjoy this (mostly) French-language interview with him:

For the rest of us, here's Brassard in an English-language one-on-one with Gord Wilson:

Finally, with the seventh-round pick, the Sens picked Swedish defenceman Mikael Wikstrand--also an offensive-oriented guy, but apparently one with a little more of a rounded game. Wikstrand was ranked 23rd among European skaters, but drafted 166 overall; doesn't that seem kind of ridiculous? Either way, here's Wikstrand with Gord Wilson talking about his game:

To sum it all up, here are Bryan Murray and Pierre Dorion talking about all the kids the Sens brought into the organization. I'm quite excited to see what Ceci can do in a Sens uniform eventually, but after him I think my highest hopes are with Maidens. Seems like a good kid. Anyway, here you go, and you can see these videos and more on Sens TV.