He was an Asst. GM in Washington and was a high up exec with the Leafs too.....he interviewed for the Asst. GM job last year with PD. Then PD hires MacTavish who had zero AHL or NHL management experience which basically told me, he was afraid of a Type A personality under him, PD was probably worried Simmer would upstage him. Not that it wouldn't be hard to do. Which is why PD never would've hired PM, it had to come from the owner.....
- Kevin Francis

He was the Director of Hockey Ops on one of the most embarrassing franchises in the NHL and a Pro scout of the worst run Leafs tenure since the Ballard years. The years where they kept signing and trading for poopty pro players that would fail.

I like Simmer on the radio and while amusing, does have a valid point every now and then, but the guy is clearly not somebody I would seriously trust to be a major force in a franchise.

Ya....he's a reactionary individual. He'd trade Gustafson for magic beans.

I like the rest of your front office and your coaching staff too.

The games aren't being played because of covid. They're being postponed because of money. 100%. They're even saying it.

Josh Brown and Branstrom. Poor kid. Proudest moment eh? That pair will be a -4
- Octavarium

Glad you enjoyed the blog! Yes you are 100% correct on why the games arent being played.

As for Josh Brown, the mere fact that he's going to be put back into the line up should be enough to fire DJ Smith!!!! I'm serious.....how on earth can you put him back in there when he was an utter disaster....making the same mistakes....yet DJ benches others that make one mistake....this coach is soooo lost! Then you are going to pair Brannstrom with Brown.....my goodness, talk about setting up your prospect for failure. I'm telling you Josh Brown has photos of DJ or intel on him from their days together in junior to continue to put him out there. To think he was never a healthy scratch when he was making other defensemen a healthy scratch.....Holden and Zaitsev each were a scratch back in November! Unreal. I'm so tired of this coaches act.

He was the Director of Hockey Ops on one of the most embarrassing franchises in the NHL and a Pro scout of the worst run Leafs tenure since the Ballard years. The years where they kept signing and trading for poopty pro players that would fail.

I like Simmer on the radio and while amusing, does have a valid point every now and then, but the guy is clearly not somebody I would seriously trust to be a major force in a franchise.
- AdamFrench

He was the Asst. GM in Washington, you can check out his profile on Twitter or Wikipedia. But its the GM's call not his on what you were saying about the Leafs. Good old John Ferguson Dr.

Kevin, I like your effort you put in the blog. But if the new ownership hired this management group. Not gonna last long before another boycott
- Crosside

Thanks, glad you enjoyed reading it.

DJ never had AHL or NHL head coaching experience when he was hired in Ottawa. Luke has been a head coach at the AHL level and long time NHL asst. plus stepped in to be the HC during the Semi-Finals last season. Luke would also not command big dollars, that is the problem with this owner....you have to get someone who at least the proper experience this time unlike DJ but wont ask for 4 million per year. Plus Luke would bring the defensive mindset this team needs.
Add in Brad Shaw, in STL, CLB and VAN he has improved the GAA by half a goal to a full goal each year he arrived to be an asst coach....his defense that he runs has been easily some of the best in that dept. so for me results are massive, so not sure how you can say either of these 2 arent great candidates or that that fans would want to boycott.
PM as GM, he's already on the payroll....for another 2 years after this season.

Good blog as always, Kevin. I don’t have enough knowledge to breakdown each front office position, but from a fan point of view, I don’t think Pierre McGuire and Luke Richardson are a dream combo for GM and head coach. I think Pierre McGuire is the most realistic option right now for GM (other than Dorion) and Luke Richardson has connections to the city where it would be nice to see him in the head coaching role. Are these dream guys for the roles though? I don’t know.

The Senators have always been most successful when experience is leading the way. John Mucklar and Bryan Murray had resumes of dreams and the results of those teams were positive. However, there are a lot of promising names out there who just need a shot at these gigs and have a high probability of success. I have always though Kevin Weeks deserves a shot in a management position somewhere.

If you want change/a new direction, I do think bringing in outside people would be beneficial as opposed to always having guys with Ottawa roots or promoting from within. Sticking to a familiar pool can lead to just the same problems as before but if you bring in outside guys witch no previous ties, there can be a fresh perspective – experience or not.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Thanks for the kind words and for always stopping by! The Sens had Muckler and Murray paying them big bucks but that was when this team had long term success. Ever since then as I mentioned in the comments last blog, no HC that was let go from Ottawa since Bryan Murray has ever got another NHL HC gig! That says a lot. I spoke about it in more detail in my reply above to another guy, see above.

He was the Asst. GM in Washington, you can check out his profile on Twitter or Wikipedia. But its the GM's call not his on what you were saying about the Leafs. Good old John Ferguson Dr.
- Kevin Francis

Unless he was literally yelling at JFJ and the others that bringing back old dead man Wendel, Rask for Raycroft (prospect for pro, his scouting department), old man Gilmour, old man Leech, old man Lindros, old man Francis...insert "old man" or mediocre pro player (Jason Blake) then I really don't see the argument. The Sens have been a team basically riddled with bad pro scouting as a major weakness and his primary roles have been pro scouting/hockey ops.

I don't see when he was AGM on the Caps. It says Director of Hockey Ops and the GM of their AHL affiliate on every hockey related website including his own bio.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed reading it.

DJ never had AHL or NHL head coaching experience when he was hired in Ottawa. Luke has been a head coach at the AHL level and long time NHL asst. plus stepped in to be the HC during the Semi-Finals last season. Luke would also not command big dollars, that is the problem with this owner....you have to get someone who at least the proper experience this time unlike DJ but wont ask for 4 million per year. Plus Luke would bring the defensive mindset this team needs.
Add in Brad Shaw, in STL, CLB and VAN he has improved the GAA by half a goal to a full goal each year he arrived to be an asst coach....his defense that he runs has been easily some of the best in that dept. so for me results are massive, so not sure how you can say either of these 2 arent great candidates or that that fans would want to boycott.
PM as GM, he's already on the payroll....for another 2 years after this season.
- Kevin Francis

For this owner, correct. But you make assomption with a new owner. I would expect name like Maurice, Torto, AV, Hartley with Jacques Martin for assistant. For Gm I m not sure who is available, but someone like Yzerman, Sakic, Brisebois, Roy , Hextall

I'm so surprised nobody in here is commenting on how the Sens are mismanaging one one of their top future prospects in Gus!

Like stunned.....it sounds like he wont even dress as the back up in either game this week! You got to be kidding me if that happens! Meanwhile the BSens play Wed/Fri/Sat/Mon......4 games in 6 nights.....Gus should be on a plane back here now! Get him action....he hasn't played since Dec. 7th....just nuts!
- Kevin Francis

Problem solve, he s send to Belleville

For this owner, correct. But you make assomption with a new owner. I would expect name like Maurice, Torto, AV, Hartley with Jacques Martin for assistant. For Gm I m not sure who is available, but someone like Yzerman, Sakic, Brisebois, Roy , Hextall
- Crosside

This is the thing, with Ottawa having to make up so many games at their own request, he-who-shall-not-be-named is clearly struggling with bottom lines. Pre-COVID it was harder to see light at the end of the tunnel, but I don't know if this can be kept afloat much longer, affording us this wonderful luxury of conjecture and speculation.

For this owner, correct. But you make assomption with a new owner. I would expect name like Maurice, Torto, AV, Hartley with Jacques Martin for assistant. For Gm I m not sure who is available, but someone like Yzerman, Sakic, Brisebois, Roy , Hextall
- Crosside

Yes, a new owner would pay....but 4 of those 5 names as GM are employed right now with great jobs and arent coming to Ottawa. Patrick Roy has no AHL or NHL management exp and 2 year as HC in Colorado, its all at the junior level. This team needs somebody with exp. Maurice would be great as coach, GM....hard to say....no Torts for coaching, Hartley isn't a bad name, I could see him here. Jacques would be great here.

This is the thing, with Ottawa having to make up so many games at their own request, he-who-shall-not-be-named is clearly struggling with bottom lines. Pre-COVID it was harder to see light at the end of the tunnel, but I don't know if this can be kept afloat much longer, affording us this wonderful luxury of conjecture and speculation.
- Bartacus

Exactly, I said that last night with a few people on Twitter.....I know EM is drowning in it....big time! As Ive mentioned before, I knew 3 occasions where EM needed the league to help him with payroll pre-covid, so can you imagine where he's at now?! Those high interest loans too......with no revenue....I'm telling you its as close as its been. Check out my Twitter feed from last night...you'll see what Im talking about.

Unless he was literally yelling at JFJ and the others that bringing back old dead man Wendel, Rask for Raycroft (prospect for pro, his scouting department), old man Gilmour, old man Leech, old man Lindros, old man Francis...insert "old man" or mediocre pro player (Jason Blake) then I really don't see the argument. The Sens have been a team basically riddled with bad pro scouting as a major weakness and his primary roles have been pro scouting/hockey ops.

I don't see when he was AGM on the Caps. It says Director of Hockey Ops and the GM of their AHL affiliate on every hockey related website including his own bio.
- AdamFrench

Twitter bio has Asst. GM but I actually recall him in that role with the Caps. Ya, what a gongshow that was in Toronto back then....Raycroft for Tuuka! Oh my! But all those Hall of Famers on their last legs.....many forget about Francis and Leetch. That Jason Blake deal after they got him from Anaheim....yikes, he got rewarded for one hot season, like Zack Smith here.

Problem solve, he s send to Belleville
- Crosside

Yes I saw that, I have it tweeted out on my Twitter feed! Hmmm.....you fly him out there for what reason? He could've played on the weekend in Belleville. I hope Sens fans are patient with him and let him get back into game shape. He hasn't played a game since Dec. 7th.

So help me if DJ has Josh Brown in the line up in Calgary. D pairings from practice today.

Chabot JBD
Holden Zub
Brannstrom JBrown
Heatherington Mete

Love the thread and the passion. But!

Covid matters. Sometimes the disease wins. Covid is not responsible for everything going on with the Sens but it is a significant factor.

I hate all this whiney talk. This is not the time for snivellers and blamers. Everybody has a right to an opinion and we all love hockey talk and speculation. But filling out a management team of has beens and wanna bees would be foolish and disastrous.

When the Sens promoted Dorion to GM, my favourite candidate for GM was Julien Brisbois, a young gun in Tampa who was making a good name for himself. Who are the young and the up and comers capable of taking a program all the way?

But it has to be one person and he has to be given the freedom of building his own management team.

I like the way Montreal has handled their mess. Jeff Gorton!

He gets to call the shots. Is he the right guy? Give me that as an option rather than a management and coaching roster of used to bees that nobody else seems to want.

I think the respected business leaders from yester-year need to come back. No company, and or charity is coming near this team with this owner. He's burned every bridge. He burned it with Luke Richardson too. And Alfie. And and and.


Was Simmer involed in the Corson for Kordic deal? That was another Leaf doozy.

So help me if DJ has Josh Brown in the line up in Calgary. D pairings from practice today.

Chabot JBD
Holden Zub
Brannstrom JBrown
Heatherington Mete
- Kevin Francis

He's clearly going to play Brown... though if that gets Brannstrom in the lineup, then maybe it's really just at the expense of Heatherington (who's quietly been half-decent in the role of a #6 physical D).

If the Sens want to sign Sanderson They'll have to rework his ELC and add a lot of concessions in it. Maybe clauses like starting in NHL, no AHL, minimum amount of games for each season, minimum average TOI etc. It obvious it was done with Tkachuk and Stutzle.

I'm so surprised nobody in here is commenting on how the Sens are mismanaging one one of their top future prospects in Gus!
- Kevin Francis

Well, you're assuming that Gustavsson is regarded as one of their top future prospects. They protected him in the Seattle expansion draft, but that just means they liked his age/potential upside more than Murray/Forsberg/Daccord. He stood on his head for a couple of games, but the lack of consistency in his play is reminiscent of both Forsberg/Hogberg, which means he could just be the next guy in line to not be the full solution in goal. By most objective standards, Sogaard looks more like a potential future #1G, plus he's a guy they actively traded up for in the 2nd round of the 2019 draft. Not to mention that Gustavsson's contract sets him up to be bounced around between the AHL/NHL this year, and COVID protocols may have played a role in how they could manage player transfers back to the AHL. Regardless, they clearly feel he's better off playing back in the AHL now, so we'll see what happens.

He's clearly going to play Brown... though if that gets Brannstrom in the lineup, then maybe it's really just at the expense of Heatherington (who's quietly been half-decent in the role of a #6 physical D).
- khawk

20games 2pts +6
Physical pushes players away from net and off puck I really like his game 🤷‍♂️

Gustavsson is a weird prospect to me. I like his potential, but I tend to agree there isn’t a super clear development line for him. Even Hogberg got the benefit of the doubt to run with the net at the NHL level after very mediocre AHL years. Unsurprisingly, can’t get a job in North America.

While you have to give Murray some benefit of the doubt to play games mainly due to the contract, Forsberg resigning was strange considering Gustavsson looked poised to take the back up role. Inadvertently, there is a log jam.

While Gus the Bus had some nice games where he was solid. A sub .900 save percentage won’t do you many favors. I don’t think many will disagree that Forsberg has been the best of the 3 goalies. It certainly not Vezina like results, but of all the goalies he has had the best results.

In every rebuild, some old prospects get passed by new prospects. You must wonder if this is happening soon with the goalies. Sogaard is looking like a promising goalie by most accounts followed by Mandolese and Merilainen. While I hated the 3rd round pick of an unranked goalie in the 2020 draft of Merilainen, he is looking poised to be a solid professional hockey goalie.

20games 2pts +6
Physical pushes players away from net and off puck I really like his game 🤷‍♂️
- sens4life1971

I saw DJ's comments today, man this guy thinks because he clears the front of the net that Brown should be in the lineup! OMG! How about he handles the puck like grenade and has no foot speed! Poor Brannstrom is going to be stuck with that dead wood, my goodness, talk about lowering the value of another prospect. Set up the prospect for success not for failure.

He's clearly going to play Brown... though if that gets Brannstrom in the lineup, then maybe it's really just at the expense of Heatherington (who's quietly been half-decent in the role of a #6 physical D).
- khawk

I was surprised to hear Dean Brown the play by play guy today, say that Heatherington brings more to the line up than Brown with the physicality and cant understand why Brown is in the line up!

If the Sens want to sign Sanderson They'll have to rework his ELC and add a lot of concessions in it. Maybe clauses like starting in NHL, no AHL, minimum amount of games for each season, minimum average TOI etc. It obvious it was done with Tkachuk and Stutzle.
- granpa

They did so with JBD and Pinto last year, so it'll be easy to sign Sanderson to his ELC.

Since the Sens were 1 goal away from the Stanley Cup Final in the 2017-18 season, they have won 86 of a possible 238 regular-season games to date for a .361 winning %!!!