Listening to sports talk radio, it sounds like none of the players were really surprised at this move. It sounds like he was beginning to lose the room...
- Jordo

Yikes, that's always when the writing is on the wall.

I can empathise however, given that you guys have recently lost your two most recent captains (and 2 of the 3 longest serving guys) due mainly to financial concerns. That's always going to make for an easily fractious atmosphere in the room.

Listening to sports talk radio, it sounds like none of the players were really surprised at this move. It sounds like he was beginning to lose the room...
- Jordo

Exactly. I know they joked about him forgetting how to coach; but you never know, dementia is real thing. Jokes aside, he'll be a good coach for a struggling team for the first two years.

I don't get how any one can stand up for Maclean. His ice allocation was mind boggling, the team had next to no structure and he proved time and time again that he wasn't capable of developing players. He screwed up Mika's development, won't give lehner a chance, has a raging hard on for terrible players like Neil and Philips.. Good riddance. I get that the team has the lowest salary and almost no top end talent, but his lineups, ice time and player development are inexcusable. I just hope they have a much bigger plan other than DC as head coach. If you're going to do a shake up, commit to it.

Bylsma isnt the coach you hire if you want to rebuild and get your young guys in the lineup.

He favors veterans because he used to be one. He rarely plays young guys and when he does he has a very long memory with them whenever they screw up.

He has kept Simon Despres buried in the AHL for years and this year he is up playing quality minutes and performing well.

Trust me, save yourselves a lot of anger and frustration.

I have nothing bad to say about Shero besides his drafting.
- SuperHenderson13

I was curious so I just went and checked his draft record, and you're absolutely right.

The only guys they drafted beyond the first round that are playing in the NHL are Brian Strait (Islanders) and Jake Muzzin (Kings). A lot of that could be a result of having a NHL roster with no opportunities for players to get into the lineup mind you.

So long Paul MacLean........hello Mike Keenan!

Guy coached up bargain rosters his entire tenure there.

Saying his Norris trophy defenseman should play semi decent defense was way out of line though.

At the end of it all, maybe Gene is a genius, and will bring back Dave Allison to get us McDavid. Or maybe he was inspired by the way Dave Cameron was able to snatch a 5-3 loss to the Russians from a 3-0 lead at the World Juniors, and thinks that might parallel Gene's run to the finish line at Biovail.

I mean, how could MacLean not win with a couple of high paid guys and several glue factory candidates?

Whoever it is better make good use of the Kovalevs and bargain basement specials Gene foists on him through puppeting the GM.

Does Gene have any useful odiot kids to keep the next generation of Leaf fans happy?

This is a tweet I saw and thought was kinda funny:

1h
Shaun Bisson @shaun_bisson
Paul MacLean is now unemployed but Dallas Eakins still has a job. Because that makes complete sense.
Retweeted by Bolt Prospects
ExpandReplyRetweetFavorite

This is just a bad move, but I bet we won't find out the truth until PM's auto-bio comes out in 20 years.

I suspect he's at logger-heads with Murray and Melnyck because there isn't enough money to get any decent players. They're probably yelling at him to win games and while all he has to work with is Philips and Greening and Neil and Michalek, etc.
PM used to continually say ' the best players will play' and then put Neil on the ice for 20 minutes.

It will be VERY interesting to see if any of the line juggling and poor player management will change once Cameron takes over. Maybe they're going to make Alfredsson Head Coach in the new year...

Perhaps it's just me, but it often seems that the guys who get the first overall (or at least a top 3-5 pick) seem to often forget that there are 6 more rounds of draft to go. Pitts had some poor drafting for a while, and now Edmonton are unable to pick out anybody beyond their lottery pick.
- lumlums

problem isnt where he's drafted from, it is that he has 6-7 dmen who are nhl quality dmen in the system but only 2-3 spots will be available to those young guys.

his lack of drafting quality forwards in any round in the draft was his problem. his logic wasnt flawed to an extent but it was just poor asset management.

I don't get how any one can stand up for Maclean. His ice allocation was mind boggling, the team had next to no structure and he proved time and time again that he wasn't capable of developing players. He screwed up Mika's development, won't give lehner a chance, has a raging hard on for terrible players like Neil and Philips.. Good riddance. I get that the team has the lowest salary and almost no top end talent, but his lineups, ice time and player development are inexcusable. I just hope they have a much bigger plan other than DC as head coach. If you're going to do a shake up, commit to it.
- KarlOrBust

I was against the firing at first, and I'm still not sold on it. Your post about line allocation has peaked my interest though. We likely wont see too much time given to the Neils and Greenings.

Give the kids lots of icetime and let them develop.
No more Neil as the 6th skater.

I was curious so I just went and checked his draft record, and you're absolutely right.

The only guys they drafted beyond the first round that are playing in the NHL are Brian Strait (Islanders) and Jake Muzzin (Kings). A lot of that could be a result of having a NHL roster with no opportunities for players to get into the lineup mind you.
- the_terror

his strategy was to draft young dmen. develop them and then trade them for forwards. did it with whitney for kunitz and gogo for neal.

problem is he had no draft picks who could step in at forward and play bottom 6 and add depth to the organization. if he wanted a forward he literally had to sign someone or trade for someone. no organizational depth at forward.

I can't imagine a guys like Bylsma would go to Ottawa. He's still got some cache now, enough to get a decent job by the start of next season.

Going to Ottawa where the "internal salary cap" means you will have a roster that basically has one hand tied against it's back compared to most other teams seems like a pretty dumb move.

I'd guess they'll get a guy who has worn out his welcome a few times like Torts or a guy who is looking for his first NHL head coaching job.

I think also has a lot to do with the Ryan trade, this franchise has been in turmoil since Alfie left and this just adds to it - hopefully the next hire is the right one

Dan Bylsma probably isn't the right fit for the Sens. If Ray and Dan came as a package deal, be afraid. Be very afraid.

They are entirely too friendly. A general manager can't/shouldn't be a friend to his employee. There's no doubt in my mind their friendship clouded Ray's judgment on Dan's performance.

problem isnt where he's drafted from, it is that he has 6-7 dmen who are nhl quality dmen in the system but only 2-3 spots will be available to those young guys.

his lack of drafting quality forwards in any round in the draft was his problem. his logic wasnt flawed to an extent but it was just poor asset management.
- SuperHenderson13

Perhaps he thought that given the plethora of talent that you have up front, that defense was more important. Maybe thought that the bottom 6 could be filled out by UFA signings?

I can't imagine a guys like Bylsma would go to Ottawa. He's still got some cache now, enough to get a decent job by the start of next season.

Going to Ottawa where the "internal salary cap" means you will have a roster that basically has one hand tied against it's back compared to most other teams seems like a pretty dumb move.

I'd guess they'll get a guy who has worn out his welcome a few times like Torts or a guy who is looking for his first NHL head coaching job.
- noffsin6

With respect to this, and the concept of an internal salary cap.

I agree that it exists, but at the same time, I don't see it being an issue. Once the team is ready to take the next step, then Eugene can lift that cap and they can bring in the parts.

Realistically speaking, and let's be real here, what players have Ottawa missed out on acquiring through free agency, where the cause was 'no money'?

They didn't sign Hemsky and gave his money to Michalek. Hemsky has 7 points and is a -12, Michalek has 8 points and is a -6. Seems like a wash. They've locked Turris and MacArthur and Ryan and Karlsson and Lehner and Cowen up to long term deals.

So far, the internal cap hasn't impacted a single thing at all, and there's absolutely no indication out there that Eugene won't release money to bring in guys once the team is ready. Bringing in money free agents right now, unless it's a LW1 or a partner for Karlsson, only takes playing time away from developing players who really need their TOI to remain high. This is what causes them to develop and grow.

I just think the impact of the internal budget is overblown.

Why haven't they named Luke as coach? Who are these future replacements you speak of?
- tuna99

Luke will be the next coach of the Buffalo Sabres.
Luke and Timmy Murray are good buds and that job is already basically his after Ted Nolan. Basically an unofficial done deal.

The Sens don't want to hire another rookie NHL coach. With as many coaches as they've had, even if they wanted Luke, they couldn't.

Luke will be the next coach of the Buffalo Sabres.
Luke and Timmy Murray are good buds and that job is already basically his after Ted Nolan. Basically an unofficial done deal.

The Sens don't want to hire another rookie NHL coach. With as many coaches as they've had, even if they wanted Luke, they couldn't.
- matt272

They just named Dave Cameron head coach and it's not with an intern label - another mistake by Murray.

The Sens have started the year with 19 of the 27 games against current playoff teams. We aren't talking bubble teams here, either. The Sens have had an insanely tough schedule to start the year.

The Sens have the lowest payroll in the league and are .500 after playing the majority of their games against the best teams in the NHL.

Let's fire the coach!!

Honestly, the expectations from ownership all the way down through management are so damn ridiculously unrealistic.

Man. Murray having a brilliant press conference. He is so passionate about this team. He is selling me that this was a better move than a bad move.

Perhaps he thought that given the plethora of talent that you have up front, that defense was more important. Maybe thought that the bottom 6 could be filled out by UFA signings?
- lumlums

I think Ray was a pretty good GM. My biggest complaint was his failure to fix the problem behind the bench. If he fires Dan after getting swept by the B's a couple of years ago, I'm positive Ray is still in Pittsburgh.

I think Ray was a pretty good GM. My biggest complaint was his failure to fix the problem behind the bench. If he fires Dan after getting swept by the B's a couple of years ago, I'm positive Ray is still in Pittsburgh.
- madmike71

I hate to say anything negative about Murray considering his state, and if anyone knows me on here, I have probably been his biggest defender on this site.. at times, I have called him a top 5 GM in the league.

That said, at this point, I would take Shero in a heartbeat over Murray right now.

Man. Murray having a brilliant press conference. He is so passionate about this team. He is selling me that this was a better move than a bad move.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Really? Sounds excatly like every press conference he has after he fires a coach

1 - we need to have fun playing the game, just go out and play
2 - Cameron is a good Junior coach and a teacher
3 - We have a playoff team
4 - Players want to be held accountable and listened to
5 - The coach shut off the players


Murray should of resigned as well, this team needs a new set of eyes

He's the third best coach the team ever had.

Jacques Martin and Bryan Murray are 1-2.

And I agree with Crozier, the decision to do this was coming before last night's game, regardless of the outcome.

The idea that Ray Shero might be involved in the future of the team is intriguing. He's already worked in the Senators front office for 5-6 years, so he's got some experience with the organization. I also actually wouldn't mind having Bylsma involved with the team. Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn't found a job yet. The only caveat I'd be concerned with is that you're likely to see Todd McLellan become available shortly, Babcock might not resign in Detroit. Bylsma is absolutely a quality coach, but wouldn't you rather interview a couple other top coaches before deciding so quickly.

Cameron is a decent stopgap, let's see how he does. But yeah, Ray Shero does make sense.
- the_terror

I agree with this, I My bias towards fast paced hockey. Lemaire was definitely better numbers wise. But his game plan was hard to watch.

I meant best as in funnest to watch