The Ottawa Senators have relieved general manager Pierre Dorion of his duties. The announcement was made on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after it was announced that the team would lose a First Round pick for their mishandling of Evegnii Dadonov’s trade away from the club.
This was the last straw for Ottawa, says Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, as the club has faced a string of bad news and scandals to start the season. Only last week it was announced that Shane Pinto would face a 41-game suspension for going against the NHL’s betting policy. This comes after a laborious contract negotiation with the restricted free agent that carried into the regular season.
Ottawa is off to a fine enough start to the season, despite the off-ice theatrics, with a 4-4-0 record through their first eight games and the seventh-most goals in the NHL. They’re being championed, once again, by the powerful duo of Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk – the former leading the team in assists (8) and the latter leading them in goals (6). The two have spent 123 minutes of ice time together and have been on the ice for 12 of Ottawa’s 32 goals so far this season. Their even-strength line is rounded out by Claude Giroux, who has nine points of his own through the team’s eight games.
Dorion was also the man to bring in free agent Vladimir Tarasenko, whose brought a defiant punch to the team’s second line, with three goals and nine points. With Dorion now out of the picture, all attention turns towards who the Senators may entertain as his replacement. New team owner Michael Andlauer announced that Dorion has stepped down and Steve Staios will take over general managing duties in the interim at a press conference on Wednesday.
Wonder is DJ’s seat is starting to get a little toasty as well.
@thughand – It should. Every time I go to download a Sens game, they’ll have audio snippets of him saying the usual junk, like “I like what I see, in spite of the results.” I get why a coach wants to sound positive, but sometimes those statements come across as crib-blindness.
This is a team that is better on paper than it is in the standings. Not at all shocked this happened the instant the team had their next First taken away.
So does Dubas regret going to Pittsburgh now?
I regret Dubas came to Pittsburgh so far
Anyone who thought that Dubas was going to be able to wave a magic wand and fix the Penguins in a matter of a few months needs to have their head examined.
Hextall left this franchise a complete mess, Carter signing, terrible drafts ect ..
Dubas 100% went there thinking he could turn it around quickly. The Karlsson trade is proof.
Not unexpected. The coach will walk the plank next. And he’ll be blindfolded. (Mac knows what that means.)
Who is their goalie and how much are they paying them? Why?
Dorion is a better scout than GM. His dad,whoa,there was a scout.
@Dave – A friend and I use terms like that almost daily. Who knew it would be in the context of the Sens? Oh, wait, many of us here did. Apparently, “Way to go, GMPD” had all the weight of the proverbial 16-ton anvil.
Why doesn’t the LV GM lose his too?
How do you not ask about the contract? Or how does the nhl not have a data base that’s set up to show contract terms and conditions?
Really bizarre with the technology available that a no trade clause slipped through the cracks.
Agreed. Absolutely impossible not to know the NTC!! Absolute bullsh*t. Vegas fks-up and blames Ottawa and Ottawa gets in trouble – unreal. Not a a fan of either team, but it’s your job as a GM to know the player’s contractual properties. So you blame the other guy for your ignorance and you get away with it ..
I’m sure the contract is looked over by someone on the receiving end before any trade is made
However, the NHL won’t let Vegas screw up or be accountable so they punish the sending team only.
Agreed – too funny. Anaheim tries to get McCrimmon fired and Ottawa loses a first-rounder! Marx Brothers stuff …
@TJECK109 – Don’t forget the league offices, either. They should’ve put the kibosh on it instantly.
Accountability. First the Tarasenko signing, Second. Not looking far enough ahead to ink Pinto. 3. Losing a draft pick after trade disaster.
1. Tarasenko not a bad signing. 2. sure but also knew about Pinto investigation in the summer so that’s why they knew they had the money for tarasenko
3. agree though seems NHL just doing Vegas dirty work
now if you had said sending stone away for nothing then seing patches netted Tatar and suzuki
Way overdue. Do Smith next.
This is all on Dorian! He said the NTC list wasn’t submitted on time so he went ahead and made the trade knowing full well Dadonov wouldn’t go there. I don’t know how the NHL contracts are exposed to each team though I personally thought a NTC wouldn’t be advertised to the entire league but I could be wrong but even if they are Dorian wouldn’t have had that information pertinent to Vegas because it was late or wasn’t updated or whatever. Lose a first round pick over a third liner is poor decision making by Dorian but I really don’t think he was a bad GM I mean he had Melnyk to deal with before and still built a pretty solid looking team for the future. Too bad this is what he’ll be remembered for.
how did Dorion know that Vegas would trade dadonov to Anaheim 8 months later?
thank you. a bit lost on mcdavid’s logic myself
Woops…wow how soon I’ve forgotten that crucial Vegas to Anaheim attempt. Yikes. For whatever reason I thought the no trade was with Vegas which makes way more sense why Dorian was fired but now I’m confused how Ottawa is on the hook for this unless Dorian didn’t somehow give them that information though you’d thinks that’s relatively critical. Yup Vegas GM definitely should be the one on the hook. Where has my mind been…
I know a coach that would take over for Smith right quick..
Finally. It has been a few days since an article was posted where you goobs would yell and scream at each other. Always more fun around here when these stories show up. And you all delivered. Thanks.
This guy lol do you have a opinion of your own on the article posted above or?
Bout time.
This incident took place at the 2022 trade deadline! Why did the investigation take more than a year & a half to complete?