Mehrdad Zibanejad stood outside a restaurant on the concourse level here at the Xcel Arena late Friday night, a world away from his roots. A small smile crept across his face as he talked in broken English — his fourth language — about his fatherly pride and the wild twists and turns a life can take.

The Ottawa Senators picked up speedy Russian Nikita Filatov from the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday in exchange for the 66th overall pick.

The Senators might have found their top six forward.

By Allen Panzeri ST. PAUL, Minnesota – The Senators might have found their top six forward. In a surprise move, the Senators traded their third-round pick, 66th overall, for wayward Russian forward Nikita Filatov. Filatov was the top-ranked European skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau and was selected sixth overall by the Columbus Blue [...]

First round, 6th Mika Zibanejad, C, 6-2, 192, Huddinge, Sweden 2010-11 stats, Djurgarden: Regular season: 26 games, 5-4 Playoffs: 7 games, 1-1 Scouting report: “Mika’s a real power forward but also has soft hands, good vision and fine skating skills,” said Goran Stubb, the NHL’s director of European scouting. “He has tremendous balance and is [...]

Sens first-round (24th overall) draft choice Matt Puempel, who finished 28th in the final Central Scouting ranking, said he was worried about where he would be drafted after having hip surgery. Teams, he thought, might be worried about his recovery. But if they were, he never was. He went to the hip surgeon of the [...]

Stefan Noesen readily admits he had some growing up to do after his first Ontario Hockey League season with Plymouth in 2009-10.