After news leaked in late August that Sportlogiq’s Sean Tierney was joining the Ottawa Senators as their first full-time analytics hire, it opened the door to many questions.
What would Tierney’s role be? Was it general manager Pierre Dorion’s decision to bring him into the fold? Given Tierney’s history with Michael Andlauer and his OHL Hamilton Bulldogs, was this an example of the new owner putting his stamp on the organization? Or, was this an example of an owner investing capital into some sorely needed areas to help his hockey operations department make better and more informed decisions?
The first point was taken care of with the team’s official press release revealing a few changes to the hockey operations department.
Ben Sexton was named a new assistant coach for D.J. Smith’s staff. He joins associate coach Jack Capuano and assistants Bob Jones and Davis Payne.
Rob Murphy was promoted to chief professional scout in a reshuffling of the pro scouting department. Jim Clark, who held the title previously, will remain with the organization in a professional scouting capacity.
Most importantly, it was revealed that Tierney will officially join the organization on September 15th as the director of hockey analytics. Director. You read that right. Director. As in leading a staff, hopefully.
Interestingly, Bruce Garrioch reported that it was Andlauer who brought Tierney into the fold.
“Incoming owner Michael Andlauer, who is expected to close the deal to purchase the club from the estate of the late Eugene Melnyk any day now, has opted to expand the club’s use of analytics by hiring Sean Tierney as the director of a newly created department.”
Hopefully, Tierney will oversee and effectively grow this department from the ground up. Given his experience with the same role, albeit at the junior hockey level, and his work as the senior director of analytics and pro services at Sportlogiq, it feels like Ottawa’s in a really good spot here.
Obviously, the Senators will never scale up to the level of the Toronto Maple Leafs in terms of their staff, but not many organizations can.
The ideal goal for the organization is to grow a staff that can: 1) mitigate risks and make better decisions; 2) augment the work of its professional and amateur scouts; 3) help the coaching staff with personnel decisions; 4) influence tactical strategies and decision-making; 5) identify undervalued internal and external players that the team can target, acquire and utilize; and 6) identify and react to inefficiencies before their competition.
One person alone cannot do this all alone, which is why it is important for the Senators to grow their staff — especially as tracking data becomes more reliable and the volume of data increases. Separating valuable data from the noise will be paramount.
Everything will take time, however. Given how much of a headstart other franchises have, it is going to take a while for the organization to make up ground and put itself on equal footing with progressive franchises like Carolina. And, that’s okay. Today’s announcement was hopefully the first of many that will allow the Senators to ice a more competitive team.
Other announcements may be forthcoming. In yesterday’s ‘32 Thoughts Podcast’, Elliotte Friedman mentioned that more moves will likely be tied to Michael Andlauer’s official unveiling sometime later this week.
“The expectation is yes, this is going to come to an end this week. The one thing about the sale process is there were a lot of misfires before they picked (Michael) Andlauer. And, then it’s been pretty smooth since that occurred. Everyone seems to think that he’ll be officially unveiled this week and with that, we’ll find out what’s going to happen around him. There’s been a lot of talk about Cyril Leeder coming back. He was in that organization for a long time. There’s been a lot of talk about Steve Staios. I think we’re going to find out and get clarity on some of these things this week.”
One of the other rumoured names to be rejoining the organization in some capacity is the former captain, Daniel Alfredsson.
Friedman mentioned that he has heard varying beliefs on how much responsibility Alfredsson wants to immediately take on.
“Daniel Alfredsson is another one. I’ve had some people say to me they are not convinced Alfredsson is going to take an enormous role yet.”
If the front office remains as it currently is structured, I could understand Alfredsson not wanting to take a huge role right away. It might be beneficial for him to immerse himself in a less onerous role where he does not draw attention away from his superiors. And, if Andlauer eventually does want to bring in his own people to run the hockey operations department, maybe it makes sense for Alfredsson to bide his time and wait for Dorion’s successor.
One thing that Friedman felt confident in was the likelihood that D.J. Smith and Pierre Dorion would be allowed to continue in their roles to start the season.
“I think this, I’d be surprised if they were making any changes like that right now. I think people would be at it. I’d be surprised if anybody was departing. One of the things that I think is going to be interesting here is, how is the organization run under new ownership? It’s clear that the Ottawa Senators were a dysfunctional organization for a long time and now, they’ve got everyone pulling in the right direction and they’ve got a lot of good bets here. Everybody there is optimistic. I think it’s for good reason. I think we’re going to get a chance to see some things play out here.”
The speculation will continue until Andlauer’s official introductory press conference, but I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say about the future of his hockey operations department and a prospective downtown arena.
Mind you, once Andlauer takes over, any small changes will represent a departure from the years of mismanagement and inefficient resource allocation. It was one thing to be a small market team, it’s another entirely to operate as a small-minded small market team.
Fortunately, as Elliotte Friedman alluded to on the podcast, unlike some of the other prospective bidders who relied on some celebrity involvement, Andlauer is a believer that diligence and a well-run operation are the staples of a strong franchise. If he gives the Senators the capital and resources to take a marked jump forward, it is going to be such a welcomed change.
Shane Pinto Contract News
In the eight minutes that Friedman and Jeff Marek spent talking about the Senators, they briefly touched on what is going on with Shane Pinto’s situation.
With training camp just around the corner, there has been no reported progress on an extension with the restricted free agent. The problem is that the team has just under $900,000 in cap room and as Friedman indicated on his podcast, the Senators are actively trying to move money to fit Pinto in.
It is an unfortunate predicament for what should essentially be a one-season problem. With the bulk of its roster and key players signed, the team will have more money available next offseason.
Dorion acknowledged in April that the team does not have any bad contracts on the books and to his point, there is not a ton of bad money on the parent roster. Mathieu Joseph probably earns more than he should after an underachieving season in which he failed to register a five-on-five goal. But, replacing his contributions with an alternative might only save the team $500,000 to $1.0 million. Even if the team replaced a depth veteran like Travis Hamonic, an alternative would only save the team a few hundred thousand.
Unfortunately, Dorion’s contract mistakes have compounded this situation. Even if the Senators were banking on Matt Murray being bought out, the Colin White and Michael Del Zotto buyouts have cost the team some valuable wiggle room that could have been allocated toward a Pinto extension. These deals also underline just how important it was for the Senators to get Zaitsev’s deal off the books — although it is easier to wonder if the Zaitsev trade could have waited until the offseason when his signing bonus was paid out and it should have been less cost prohibitive to move him off the roster.
DeBrincat’s Unhappiness
Apparently, we are doing that time-honoured tradition where we bury a player who has left town.
According to a report by Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, one of the driving factors behind Alex DeBrincat’s decision to leave was his usage.
It is not like DeBrincat did not have opportunities. Brady Tkachuk was the only player to average more power play ice time than DeBrincat while Tim Stützle was the only forward who averaged more ice time per game. Hitting eight posts and having one of his least productive professional seasons in a contract year would have frustrated any player, but phrasing this as DeBrincat having an issue playing behind Brady is just so Ottawa.
Josh Norris’ injury compounded Ottawa’s depth and before he got hurt, DeBrincat was playing a lot with him and Claude Giroux. On paper, that is a great line and together, their underlying shot and goal metrics looked very strong across a small sample size of games. Unfortunately, once Norris got hurt, it put the team in a situation where DeBrincat was relegated to playing with Shane Pinto and Drake Batherson.
Not to take anything away from those players, but they are not Stützle or Giroux — the team’s best offensive and defensive forwards.
Do I blame a three-time 40-goal scorer for wanting extended opportunities to play with the team’s best players in a contract year? Not at all. That frustration would be natural and it would be amplified through the team’s desire to play dump and chase hockey.
Another unnecessary wrinkle was added when D.J. Smith balked at using DeBrincat on the first power play unit given his loyalty to the players who were around the year before.
The Senators had the 20th-ranked power play in 2021-22, but it never helped that DeBrincat and Tim Stützle liked to operate from the same spot on the left side. There should have been ways to fit one of the league’s most proficient power play scorers and the team’s best offensive player on the same unit early on. To willingly create an unnecessary strain that early in the season when the player wants to assimilate quickly and be productive feels counterintuitive.
In fairness to D.J. Smith, however, he probably wanted to create the most balanced lineup that he could. And, DeBrincat has to own the fact that he had an underwhelming season. Watching him regularly, one of the things that really stood out was that DeBrincat struggled to drive play on his own. He needed to be insulated with more talent to transition that puck from defence to offence.
Goal scorers are going to get paid in this league, but when looking at the possibility of an extension last season, one of the concerns that I had was that the Senators could use a significant chunk of their cap on a winger who needs to be better in all three zones.
It is unfortunate how the trade worked out. Questions about the fit, the risks involved in moving such a significant opportunity cost for a one-year window to sign a player with no loyalty to the organization were very real, but the team took a chance. There were some good reasons to take that swing, but it didn’t work out and the general manager has to own that.
In moving on from DeBrincat, I do believe the team will be better off in the long run without that contract on the books. Once the cap escalates, I believe they could reallocate that money more wisely on a better talent once the team is further along in its development and players and agents recognize the impact Andlauer and new ownership will have on improving everything around this organization.
I just wish that when players leave, this city and its media could take the high road and respect the player’s wish to play closer to home. Slagging DeBrincat to protect the organization while he’s on his way out is just so unnecessary and small-town.
Other News and Notes:
Speaking of Colin White, the centre has signed a professional tryout agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins
It looks like Postmedia’s coverage of the Senators has changed. Tim Baines is making the transition from covering the RedBlacks to the Senators. What necessitated that move? It sounds like Ken Warren will no longer cover the team while Don Brennan was never afforded the opportunity to return.
Given Andlauer's background in the logistics business, it would not surprise me at all to see him beef up the Senators use of analytics significantly. He is clearly a "data guy" if he has got this far in his line of business.
The signing of Tierney is a 180 degree departure from hiring Pierre McGuire. It should, as you say, be seen as moving away from a small minded small market team.