By Scott Roblin

Tigers’ Søgaard nabbed at 37th overall by Ottawa Senators

Jun 22, 2019 | 11:51 AM

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Ottawa Senators couldn’t pass up an opportunity to grab Medicine Hat Tigers netminder Mads Søgaard, so much so they traded up to get him.

The 18-year-old Danish giant was selected in the second round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft on Saturday, picked 37th overall by the Senators.

Speaking to reporters in Vancouver after hearing his name called, Søgaard put into words what it was like finally getting drafted.

“It’s an unreal feeling,” said Søgaard. “Great to come into a great organization, just stand up there and give my family a hug, it was an awesome moment. I can’t really describe it to be honest.”

Ottawa chose to trade their 44th overall second round pick and a third round selection to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the pick that would be used to select Søgaard.

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Søgaard said there’s plenty of opportunity on a rebuilding team and is excited to play even more games with the Tigers this year.

“To have them think of me being a part of that rebuild is something great,” he said. “It’s just so exciting for me. I’m sure that I’m going to prepare well the next couple years and play a lot of minutes in Medicine Hat, and try to make it to pro as fast as possible.”

Posting some of the best goaltending numbers in the entire WHL in his rookie season this past year, Søgaard put up a 19-8-2 record in 37 games with a 2.64 goals against average, a 0.921 save percentage, and three shutouts with the Tigers.

Although he’s never visited the nation’s capital, Søgaard added he does have a family connection to Ottawa with his brother being a die-hard Senators supporter.

“He’s going to absolutely love it,” he said. “He’s been a Sens fan for a while and he just screamed ‘yes’ when I got picked. It was awesome, it was a great moment, and I can’t wait to get started here.”

Søgaard becomes the second Medicine Hat goaltender in three years to be drafted by the Senators, joining 2017 sixth rounder Jordan Hollett who has since had his NHL rights expire.

The 6-foot-7 Søgaard also becomes the highest drafted Tiger since Hunter Shinkaruk went 24th overall to the Vancouver Canucks in the 2013 NHL Draft.

More to come…