From what I gather the Ducks were far from the only team very high on Sennecke. He has every tool you want in a high end skilled player and there were many echoes that he would be picked much higher than people thought. In any case, Martin Madden has earned the benefit of the doubt.
There was hype at the end but from there to choosing him 3rd...
It still proves that the level of draft 24 was very average because usually a 2nd and 3rd pick is better than Levshunov and Sennecke.
Even 2018, which was said to be a weak draft, there was a general consensus with Svechnikov and Tkachuk.
Sennecke has never done anything in an international tournament, has very low offensive production for rank 3 even though he was next to superb players. I have a hard time seeing him as an elite talent. With 25 years of experience, this kind of profile becomes a 3rd line winger.
It wouldn't be surprising if this was a big mistake.
For me it's the WTF pick of the top 30. Choices 31 (Danford, Toronto) and 32 (O'Reilly, Edmonton), by their context are also stupid.
Afterwards, there may be an accounting calculation. It will take cap space to sign all the recent top 10 choices, so taking a less strong but perfectly complementary player in a more defensive role, it can be a strategy but in this case, it would have been worth trading down because he was not in the Columbus and Montreal papers for sure.
One of the biggest surprises since 2018 with Kotkaniemi, Hayton, Seider, Quinn, Boucher and Danielson. 4 lame situations, 1 neutral and 1 brilliant. That leaves you skeptical.
