What exactly does PM do? Has he even talked to press since he has been hired?

Shawn Simpson at TSN notes Ottawa is possibly looking to buy out several contracts - Zaitsev, White, Murray, and Del Zotto. Apparently also willing to eat half of Murray's salary in any trade. All Dorion deals, needless to say.
- Bartacus

The cheaper and best alternative at this point is to buy out dorion and smith

The cheaper and best alternative at this point is to buy out dorion and smith
- spazzbot

Amen sir. Have the feeling Dorion is sticking around since he works for peanuts and is the kind of 'yes' man this owner wants. Smith should go IMO solely for endorsing the acquisition of Zaitsev and then repeatedly trying to validate that advice by playing him way too much.

Serves to note that frustrating as it may be, it's not like this model can't work. Canes have a tempestuous owner who likes yes men and doesn't like to pay front office. Top point % of any team in the NHL.

As I stated after the McGuire hire. He's there to observe, evaluate and report to Melnyck. There's a $hit storm coming.

As I stated after the McGuire hire. He's there to observe, evaluate and report to Melnyck. There's a $hit storm coming.
- granpa

Agreed.

Thanks for the blog Kevin. I agree with you that someone in management should address the media and take the tough questions. Dorion is the guy that should do it because he is the GM and is the top hockey person in the organization.

While it has been frustrating as hell to watch the train wreck that is the Ottawa Senators this season, the hope is that it will result in foundational changes to address the issues. It is becoming obvious that Dorion is in way over his head when it comes to professional player assessment, which is critical for making trades and signing the right players to good contracts. While drafting and developing has been very good, the organization has failed at pretty much everything else. We need a new GM. A new owner would also be great!

On a positive note, Greig is putting up nice points in the WHL.

The crazy thing is that, despite all of the disappointment so far this year, they're still fundamentally in a very good position going forward. There's a very solid group of young assets to build around, and in a couple of years it's hard to see them not at least being in some kind of contention for a wild-card spot. Maguire's position-summary card would very likely read something along the following lines (italics for players not yet in the NHL):

#1/2 Line F - Tkachuk, Stutzle, Batherson, Norris, Sokolov
#3/4 Line F - Formenton, Pinto, Greig, Boucher

#1 Pair D - Chabot, Sanderson
#2/3 Pair D - Zub, Thomson, Bernard-Docker, Kleven

#1/2G - Gustavsson, Sogaard

Now, in fairness to Melnyk/Dorion, ~50% of these good young players aren't even playing in the NHL yet, because they were only drafted in 2019-2021. But that brings us to the rather obvious point of not generating misleading expectations by talking about Cups, unprecedented success, or even just the end of the rebuild. Just say something like 'we're well on our way to building a serious contender', and then make a point of letting the fans see you giving these young guys a chance to earn (and keep!) their ice time. That way, even if the teams does blow a lead, it's a least a major teachable moment for the young kids involved... instead of just making them watch from the bench, as nickle/dime veterans find ways to screw things up even worse.

This also means that right now may not be the best time to invest huge $$$ in the supporting cast, and I can understand that. However, bringing in 1 or 2 veterans who can actually play important minutes is far more constructive than adding 7 or 8 bargain bin players to eat random minutes. Young players can learn things from a veteran when they play with them on the ice, give them constructive feedback, help them work on things, etc. Kind of like when they brought in Gonchar/Phaneuf to play 2nd pairing D-man minutes, or had MacArthur around as supporting winger. Instead, they're playing an all-young #1 line, left the youngest and most skilled forward on the team by themselves on the 2nd line with no useful support, and then gave the most D-man ice time in the entire league to another young player. That's basically just throwing your best young players to the wolves, as opposed to giving them the development support they really need.

The crazy thing is that, despite all of the disappointment so far this year, they're still fundamentally in a very good position going forward. There's a very solid group of young assets to build around, and in a couple of years it's hard to see them not at least being in some kind of contention for a wild-card spot. Maguire's position-summary card would very likely read something along the following lines (italics for players not yet in the NHL):

#1/2 Line F - Tkachuk, Stutzle, Batherson, Norris, Sokolov
#3/4 Line F - Formenton, Pinto, Greig, Boucher

#1 Pair D - Chabot, Sanderson
#2/3 Pair D - Zub, Thomson, Bernard-Docker, Kleven

#1/2G - Gustavsson, Sogaard

Now, in fairness to Melnyk/Dorion, ~50% of these good young players aren't even playing in the NHL yet, because they were only drafted in 2019-2021. But that brings us to the rather obvious point of not generating misleading expectations by talking about Cups, unprecedented success, or even just the end of the rebuild. Just say something like 'we're well on our way to building a serious contender', and then make a point of letting the fans see you giving these young guys a chance to earn (and keep!) their ice time. That way, even if the teams does blow a lead, it's a least a major teachable moment for the young kids involved... instead of just making them watch from the bench, as nickle/dime veterans find ways to screw things up even worse.

This also means that right now may not be the best time to invest huge $$$ in the supporting cast, and I can understand that. However, bringing in 1 or 2 veterans who can actually play important minutes is far more constructive than adding 7 or 8 bargain bin players to eat random minutes. Young players can learn things from a veteran when they play with them on the ice, give them constructive feedback, help them work on things, etc. Kind of like when they brought in Gonchar/Phaneuf to play 2nd pairing D-man minutes, or had MacArthur around as supporting winger. Instead, they're playing an all-young #1 line, left the youngest and most skilled forward on the team by themselves on the 2nd line with no useful support, and then gave the most D-man ice time in the entire league to another young player. That's basically just throwing your best young players to the wolves, and giving the easy minutes to a bunch of fringe NHL players.
- khawk

Solid post. There is an alright core developing but Dorion and failed to isolate that core with anything useful. The games are just 40 minutes of roster fillers running around making mistakes, 10 minutes of the top young players getting playing time but being outmatched by other teams’ superior players, and 10 minutes of the top young players getting the match ups they want and playing alright hockey. That’s not a recipe for success.

Until this team adds more elite talent and/depth players to support the talent already there, the struggles will continue. Maybe they nab Shane Wright at the draft and this team gets its Nathan MacKinnon/Austen Matthews – that’s a dream consolation prize scenario. A realistic scenario involves (could also include Shane Wright) slowly weeding out the garbage roster filler players and replacing them with either aged prospects (ie Tomson for Brown) or creating smart trades/signings for players about to enter their prime (ie nabbing Zub from Europe).

Sitting around waiting for the likes of Sanderson, Greig, Sogaard, Sokolov, etc to come up in a season or two to save the day is a very risky scenario and involves basically hitting a home run on all your prospects, which just doesn’t happen in the NHL. You don’t even have to look far as the current roster is comprised of players who wouldn’t be here is other moves were not made such as Norris, Stu, Gustavsson, etc. You must make moves via trade/signing in addition to drafting to be competitive. Can Dorion be trusted with that?

The cheaper and best alternative at this point is to buy out dorion and smith
- spazzbot

Pinto had Shoulder surgery out for possibly rest of year and OTT trades Kole Sherwood to NSH for future consideration.

ooof Jack Hughes signed to 8x8M....big overpay

As I stated after the McGuire hire. He's there to observe, evaluate and report to Melnyck. There's a $hit storm coming.
- granpa

This is a great post! I think you are right!

Jack Hughes got 8m for 8 years - why in the world did tkachuk not sign this contract? seems kind of greedy

Refreshing.....The Sens should take notice of the Flyers and how they operate! GM Fletcher held a "state of the union" presser last minute today, talking about how they've faltered lately, what they need to do, direction, talked about top prospects in the AHL, wow, what a concept! Eugene and Pierre..crickets! Talk of how they have a product to sell to the fans and they need to know the direction to keep them engaged, etc....hmmm.........

This is a great post! I think you are right!
- Barrykerr1

So word out there and I talked about this in blogs back in August how Dorion had no idea McGuire was being hired, is that Dorion was pissed about McGuire being above him and how Dorion was to report to PM. I guess Dorion went on a temper tantrum and insisted on reporting to Eugene, not PM! Very interesting stuff.......

Solid post. There is an alright core developing but Dorion and failed to isolate that core with anything useful. The games are just 40 minutes of roster fillers running around making mistakes, 10 minutes of the top young players getting playing time but being outmatched by other teams’ superior players, and 10 minutes of the top young players getting the match ups they want and playing alright hockey. That’s not a recipe for success.

Until this team adds more elite talent and/depth players to support the talent already there, the struggles will continue. Maybe they nab Shane Wright at the draft and this team gets its Nathan MacKinnon/Austen Matthews – that’s a dream consolation prize scenario. A realistic scenario involves (could also include Shane Wright) slowly weeding out the garbage roster filler players and replacing them with either aged prospects (ie Tomson for Brown) or creating smart trades/signings for players about to enter their prime (ie nabbing Zub from Europe).

Sitting around waiting for the likes of Sanderson, Greig, Sogaard, Sokolov, etc to come up in a season or two to save the day is a very risky scenario and involves basically hitting a home run on all your prospects, which just doesn’t happen in the NHL. You don’t even have to look far as the current roster is comprised of players who wouldn’t be here is other moves were not made such as Norris, Stu, Gustavsson, etc. You must make moves via trade/signing in addition to drafting to be competitive. Can Dorion be trusted with that?
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Great post, sadly this staff has failed in a lot of ways developing players after they leave the AHL for Ottawa. Formenton has really plateaued. Like you said, we cant wait for the other youth to come, then you are putting a ton of pressure on them, thinking they are here to save the day, like Sanderson. No way that can happen. These players need to be surrounded by the proper vets and not vets past their prime!

Thanks for the blog Kevin. I agree with you that someone in management should address the media and take the tough questions. Dorion is the guy that should do it because he is the GM and is the top hockey person in the organization.

While it has been frustrating as hell to watch the train wreck that is the Ottawa Senators this season, the hope is that it will result in foundational changes to address the issues. It is becoming obvious that Dorion is in way over his head when it comes to professional player assessment, which is critical for making trades and signing the right players to good contracts. While drafting and developing has been very good, the organization has failed at pretty much everything else. We need a new GM. A new owner would also be great!
- SensFan25

Thanks for the kind words. A new owner would fix so many of the other problems because then there would be accountability on all levels, meaning DJ and Dorion gone! Look at what Philly did today, last minute, struggling in their last 10 games and not meeting expectations, they call a presser to talk to their fanbase! What a concept!

On a positive note, Greig is putting up nice points in the WHL.
- david22

Yes! Too bad Boucher didn't even make the US WJ invite list! Man.....

The crazy thing is that, despite all of the disappointment so far this year, they're still fundamentally in a very good position going forward. There's a very solid group of young assets to build around, and in a couple of years it's hard to see them not at least being in some kind of contention for a wild-card spot. Maguire's position-summary card would very likely read something along the following lines (italics for players not yet in the NHL):

#1/2 Line F - Tkachuk, Stutzle, Batherson, Norris, Sokolov
#3/4 Line F - Formenton, Pinto, Greig, Boucher

#1 Pair D - Chabot, Sanderson
#2/3 Pair D - Zub, Thomson, Bernard-Docker, Kleven

#1/2G - Gustavsson, Sogaard

Now, in fairness to Melnyk/Dorion, ~50% of these good young players aren't even playing in the NHL yet, because they were only drafted in 2019-2021. But that brings us to the rather obvious point of not generating misleading expectations by talking about Cups, unprecedented success, or even just the end of the rebuild. Just say something like 'we're well on our way to building a serious contender', and then make a point of letting the fans see you giving these young guys a chance to earn (and keep!) their ice time. That way, even if the teams does blow a lead, it's a least a major teachable moment for the young kids involved... instead of just making them watch from the bench, as nickle/dime veterans find ways to screw things up even worse.

This also means that right now may not be the best time to invest huge $$$ in the supporting cast, and I can understand that. However, bringing in 1 or 2 veterans who can actually play important minutes is far more constructive than adding 7 or 8 bargain bin players to eat random minutes. Young players can learn things from a veteran when they play with them on the ice, give them constructive feedback, help them work on things, etc. Kind of like when they brought in Gonchar/Phaneuf to play 2nd pairing D-man minutes, or had MacArthur around as supporting winger. Instead, they're playing an all-young #1 line, left the youngest and most skilled forward on the team by themselves on the 2nd line with no useful support, and then gave the most D-man ice time in the entire league to another young player. That's basically just throwing your best young players to the wolves, as opposed to giving them the development support they really need.
- khawk

Great post! So my issue is we don't know how some of these players are going to pan out, all hope! Sokolov is at least a year away, then he will have to develop at the NHL level....Boucher who knows when he will play an NHL game. Greig seems to be developing well, but again, what impact is he going to have next year or will he start in Belleville? Kleven will need time in Belleville that's if he comes out this year. JBD needs to develop a ton still, Formention seems to have hit a plateau lately, which makes me think the coaching staff isn't developing him properly. It would've been nice for Pinto to have a full year, this season, but then how does he rebound from the shoulder surgery? I 've had former NHLers tell me it takes 2 years to feel the way that shoulder should feel. This management group needs to get the right players mixed in with the young talent this off-season for the youth to have a legit chance of developing and to not have too much expected of them at 19 or 20 years of age.

What exactly does PM do? Has he even talked to press since he has been hired?
- GrimmdaGoalie

Exactly! The last time he talked to the media was during training camp, at the Saturday inter squad game. Like he said when he was hired, he would be the voice for the team, talk to the fans and media. None of that has happened!

Amen sir. Have the feeling Dorion is sticking around since he works for peanuts and is the kind of 'yes' man this owner wants. Smith should go IMO solely for endorsing the acquisition of Zaitsev and then repeatedly trying to validate that advice by playing him way too much.

Serves to note that frustrating as it may be, it's not like this model can't work. Canes have a tempestuous owner who likes yes men and doesn't like to pay front office. Top point % of any team in the NHL.
- Bartacus

You gotta think they are both in the bottom 5 of the league in terms of their salaries!

Has Pierre McGuire spoken at length to the media at all this season? Dawns on me that since he took the Sens job I've never heard his voice once. I figure he was always paid to talk before, but now he's paid to be invisible.
- Bartacus

Exactly! The last time he talked to the media was during training camp, at the Saturday inter squad game. Like he said when he was hired, he would be the voice for the team, talk to the fans and media. None of that has happened!

Ottawa Sun - July 12! The media savvy McGuire will be tasked with talking publicly for an organization that often struggles with positive messaging.“There’s no question, it is part of the role, and it’s something Mr. Melnyk talked about when we met, maybe the first two or three times in phone conversations,” McGuire said during his Zoom availability Monday. “Yes, it’s definitely part of it and I appreciate that and it’s something that I am comfortable with. I’ve made my living doing that for the last 20 years.”

5 games for Lemieux for biting.