Ottawa Senators: Local Drafting Pays Off

While the Ottawa Senators sit at a crossroads on the ice, their prospect bank seems to be drying up. The Binghamton Senators sit in last place in the AHL's Eastern Conference, while many of the touted young guns from the 2011 Calder Cup team develop on the big club’s roster.

Luckily for the Senators, they're located in a friendly geographical area that continues to refill their prospect pool and, ultimately, their main roster.

Eastern Ontario, the region the Senators call home, has served them well in recent years. Whether the prospects out of their area have been recent draft picks or additions to the roster, they have shown promise.

Players born and raised in Ottawa and local junior hockey imports have both been popular for the NHL team that they grew up cheering for.

Searching local areas for talent is often seen as a cliched and out-of-date strategy, but this successful movement engineered by Senators general manager Bryan Murray has breathed new life into an old scouting method.

The most recent Senators call-up is one that Ottawa-area hockey fans have been waiting for since he was snagged in Round 2 of the 2011 NHL draft.

After beginning his career in Syracuse, New York, Shane Prince saw a change in scenery early in his junior career when he joined the Ottawa 67’s.

While he is not a truly local player, Prince’s Ottawa roots go back as far as 2009, when he was part of a midseason trade from the Kitchener Rangers. The deal propelled his career to another level.

After a 30-point season in 2009-10, his point total jumped to 88 in 2010-11 with the 67’s.

Prince hit his stride in 2011-12, playing a leadership role on a Barberpoles team that advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.

Since Prince’s hit his full stride in Ottawa, he has a strong link to the region. His debut in his Senators uniform, marking an assist against the Carolina Hurricanes, is seen as a success for Ottawa’s local products and a testament to the stability of the area as a hockey-development hotbed.

While Prince has had his first cup of coffee with the big club, Kelly Summers is still far away from that opportunity.

However, as he hones his craft with the NCAA’s Clarkson University, Summers is showing promise and reassuring the Senators that their seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft was well spent.

Summers hails from Golden Lake, Ontario, according to his HockeyDB page, which is just west of Renfrew.

The 183-pound blueliner is as local as it gets, playing all of his minor hockey in the vicinity for the Ottawa Valley Titans and his junior hockey with the nearby Carleton Place Canadians of the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL).

Those Canadians were a pretty good hockey team while Summers donned their colours.

After winning the league championship in 2013-14 with an astonishing record of 54-6-2, the Canadians went on to Canada’s national Junior A championship game, with Summers anchoring the top pairing.

He led the team’s defensive core with 60 points in 56 games played, assuring his spot as a mobile offensive rearguard.

CCHL players primarily go the NCAA route, and Summers followed suit, heading to Clarkson University in 2014.

While the Senators may have to wait a few years to see Summers in action, it could be well worth the wait. His development continues to trend upward, as he works off a successful Junior A season and draws attention in the NCAA ranks.

A recent write-up on The Hockey Writers reports that Summers is enjoying an impressive rookie campaign and recently earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honours. This is the development that general manager Bryan Murray likes to see out of his late-round picks.

Some would argue that Cody Ceci isn’t a prospect anymore, and rightfully so, since he is currently enjoying a successful rookie season in the uniform of his hometown Senators.

Ceci is the prototype of local hockey players that eventually make the big-time with their childhood team. He played minor hockey in Cumberland (an eastern suburb of Ottawa), was drafted by the Ottawa 67’s and ultimately wound up with the Senators.

Not only did Ceci, the 15th overall pick in 2012, don the storied 67’s uniform, but he also led the franchise for their 2011-12 season as the team captain.

An offensive catalyst, Ceci helped the 67’s to a conference final appearance that also featured Shane Prince. The two players combined for a one-two punch that the Niagara IceDogs eventually matched in a five-game series.

While the 67’s were halted, the role of Ceci was not overlooked. He continued to be seen as a top-notch prospect, helping the 67’s to huge wins such as the thriller on April 17, 2012 in that decided their series with the Barrie Colts.

Ceci’s game has since rounded out to a level that earned him a quick promotion to the NHL. If his first career NHL goal was any indication, his career will be a good one.

Ceci’s marketability as a local fan favourite that can draw fans to the edge of their seats has cemented his place on the Senators roster. His dream career has been often cited as a huge plus for drafting local.