Silver Nuggets: Bryan Murray vs Les Canadiens

With the 15th overall selection on Friday night, Bryan Murray selected local kid Cody Ceci, a d-man who plays his junior hockey with the Ottawa 67's and who grew up in Orleans. (He also played minor hockey against my brother).

In the 6th round of the draft, with a goalie already selected in round 3, Murray and his team selected local boy Francois Brassard who plays junior for the Quebec Ramparts. He is the son of the Le Droit sports editor and grew up in Gatineau.

Last year, he selected Gatineau boy Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ottawa 67's forward Shane Prince. A few years ago in the 5th round he selected Kanata boy (and my grade school classmate) Mark Borowiecki. Over the years he has signed Matt Carkner and given him a shot at the NHL, a player from just outside Ottawa.

Being a Shawville boy himself, its clear that Murray has put an emphasis on bringing local talent into the fold in Ottawa. Whether that is to create further ties to the community or to bring in players that people know, it is hard to say. In my opinion, it is using a competitive advantage that the Senators have. With the 67's and the Olympiques being so close, it is easy for Murray and his staff to watch these players play. It will be even more easy now to keep an eye on a kid like Ceci who will be playing his home games with the 67's in Scotia Bank Place this coming season.

This to me, is markedly different than the approach of the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal goes out of its way to have it's staff and players be french speakers. This has limited their searches for hockey people to a small number, and at times, puts them at a disadvantage. Instead of "all things being equal" choosing a french speaker, they go out of their way. What I like about what Murray does is, he uses the advantage he has, and if the fit is right, he brings the player in.

It will be excellent to watch Cody grow at Scotia Bank place this year, and will make Senators fans excited, as they can easily follow his growth. So hats off to Bryan Murray for a smart draft choice that is right in line with his philosophy.

How do you feel about all the local content?

Links after the jump!

So Many Sens Links:

• Our very own Peter Raaymakers does an excellent community service by putting together a handy-dandy recap of the draft, with many videos of the prospects themselves and scouts talking about them. I highly recommend. [SSS]
• The Crown Jewel of the draft for the Sens was quite obviously first round pick and local boy Cody Ceci. Here is Peter analyzing that pick. The Sens needed a d-man, so I think it was a good pick. [SSS]
• Another article about the Ceci pick, this one from Panzeri, where Murray talks about how he tried to trade up to grab Ceci, and was lucky to have him fall. [SensExtra]
• Here is a good recap of the two 3rd round choices the Sens made, from Nichols at the 6th Sens. Really like the Maidens pick, if he can get healthy, thats like having another first rounder. [6thSens]
• In addition to Dreidger, the Senators took local product Francois Brassard, adding a couple bodies to the goaltending depth of the organization. [Panzeri]
• One reason I'm most upset about being in Kingston this summer, is my inability to attend the annual development camp to get a chance to check out the organization's prospects first-hand. Last summer I went most days, and wrote up fan posts about observations I had. Hopefully someone can do that for us this year! The camp starts tomorrow and runs all week. [SensExtra]
• Trade stuff: Turns out the Senators went after Zbynek Michalek, but with Pittsburgh's desire to deal him for picks and to not take on a contract, Murray was unwilling to make the deal. With the team near the cap floor, have to wonder why it was an issue. [Sun]
• I thought a while back I was done writing about Rick Nash. Turns out I was wrong. There was much talk this weekend about the Senators being one of the serious suitors for Nash. Well, good I mean bad news- Ottawa is apparently not on Nash's list. Here's hoping, at the price Howsen wants, that it stays that way. [6thSens] [Panzeri]