Thoughts in Bold: Dorion's End of the Year Presser
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion met with reporters on Sunday to review and discuss the team’s 2021-22 season. It was not as successful from the team’s perspective, but the development of many of this team’s young players was promising.
Dorion touched on this and a number of other developments from this season. I have transcribed all of his answers below and for each of his thoughts, I have included my own which are highlighted in bold. To listen to the full availability, you can use the link at the bottom of this post.
Enjoy.
Introductory Statement:
“First and foremost, I just want to thank our fans. We played some games with zero fans this year. We played some games with just 500 fans. Their support… they’re very passionate. They care about the success of their team. Obviously, they pay for their tickets and they pay for their suites. As the general manager, I just want to thank them for their support and I think they know we’re headed in the right direction.”
I would also like to use this space to thank my readers for following along this season. Thanks for subscribing, commenting, sharing articles, or engaging with me on Twitter. The past few years have not been easy for Senators fans, but this community’s resiliency and passion are pretty incredible. Better days are ahead.
On summing up the season from his point of view…
“Obviously, we and myself, felt that we took a big step this year. Obviously, we didn’t have the start that we wanted to have, but the most important thing in a young team is our young core now, we feel, can play pretty much with any core in the league. So, that for us, was a very important step for us as an organization and as a team. Overall, again, not happy with our start. It’s two years in a row that we have not been happy with our start. But, from December 1st on, we were over .500. We beat some good teams. We stayed in games. At times, we did get outshot. But, probably the most timely step that I look at are ‘A and B’ scoring chances. And in a lot of games, we gave up a lot of ‘C’ (scoring chances – which are not quality chances, outside chances. Chances that you probably could stop still. That’s one thing that we were very pleased about. So overall, it was, for us, a big step in the right direction. A step in the development of our young core which is crucial to our future success. And at the same time, a lot of other players stepped up their game, not just the young players.”
I’m not sure if the Senators are relying on in-house proprietary data or the third-party data that they pay for. All I have to rely on is what is available in the public realm. According to NaturalStatTrick’s dataset, after December 1st, the Senators were still in the bottom third of the league in the percentage of total scoring chances and high danger scoring chances against. Dorion’s bang on in his acknowledgment that the development of the young core was promising. If he could find a way to efficiently build a capable group around them, the organization would have something here.
On whether it was the goaltending after the 1st of December that really helped the team be more competitive…
“Well, not that I want to single out too many guys. Without a doubt, I think our MVP this season is Anton Forsberg. If you looked at save percentage, if you look at his winning… he had a winning record. If you look at expected goals against, I believe on Thursday, he was (ranked) third in the league. I would have to tell you that we felt Drake (Batherson) was probably our best player until he got hurt. Thomas Chabot became our best player before he got hurt and then if you look at the emergence of Tim Stützle, who we all believe will be a superstar in this league. What Brady (Tkachuk) did after a slow start and obviously what Josh (Norris) did, I think it really bodes well for this group. I think Erik Brannstrom was probably our most improved defenceman. So, a lot of the good, young pieces are showing that they can be really good players in this league at varying degrees, if I can say so.”
According to Evolving-Hockey’s ‘Wins Above Replacement’ (WAR), Dorion’s not wrong. Forsberg (4.4) was Ottawa’s most valuable player ahead of Thomas Chabot (3.0) and Josh Norris (2.3). By this metric, Forsberg was the league’s 11th most valuable goalie. I don’t disagree with any of the players that Dorion gave recognition to, but I’m a bit surprised by the inclusion and recognition of Erik Brannstrom’s play.
In terms of most improved defencemen, I think Thomas Chabot had an exceptional bounce-back season. Artyom Zub did not play at the same level that he demonstrated last season, but he was fine. The rest of the holdovers – Nikita Zaitsev, Josh Brown, and Victor Mete – were incredibly inefficient, so maybe it’s not unfair to see Brannstrom get some credit here. Considering how an injury and his contract’s two-way status contributed to his absence from the parent roster, it looked like Brannstrom was facing another lost season for a while.
Brannstrom will never be the dynamic offensive defenceman that was sold to fans in the aftermath of the Mark Stone trade, but he displays some nice puck-moving ability.
As an undersized defenceman, that puck-moving ability has never translated to producing strong possession metrics. Unlike other offensive defencemen, Brannstrom’s shortcomings – physicality, boxing out, winning one-on-one puck battles – to date, have never been outweighed by his strengths. And when you’re a puck-mover, that is a big red flag. If your team struggles to generate the bulk of the shots, goals, and expected goals while you are on the ice, you had better offset some of those problems with good metrics.
That has not been the case and with Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot on the left side, I wonder if Brannstrom is a candidate to be moved in a package to address another one of the team’s needs.
On where the Senators need to add…
“We need to add. It was probably the most common theme. Two things that came up the most in the exit interviews… or probably three things… First, our players think our medical staff, our equipment staff, coaching staff… there’s a lot of positive things. People like Jordan, are… they think that they’re at the top of the league. They do a really good job. Probably the second thing, the food post-game, the players aren’t very happy about that. Probably, the third thing, and the most common thing, is that we’ve got a very good, young core here. We need to add. I’m not going to get into the specifics about what we feel we need to add. I don’t want to tip our hand too much, but we know we add to add around this pretty superb group of young players.”
It is fantastic to hear that the Senators want to add. Maybe that is not surprising when the team finishes with the league’s seventh-worst record, but most of this young core is in or entering its prime years (22-27 years of age). The Senators can ill afford to piss away the prime years of its best players. The time to add and improve the roster (and post-game food) is now.
On whether he told any players during exit interviews that they will not be back…
“Yes, yesterday I told Chris Tierney that he will not be offered a contract. I told Tyler Ennis that from now until the free agency period, he will not be offered a contract but we might revisit it. We told Victor Mete that he will not be qualified. There could be others, but we still have some meetings that I want to talk to our management group, our pro scouts and our coaches. Even though I did meet with our coaches in (Philadelphia) for about two hours, but I still want to have other meetings and then other decisions will be made at that point in time.”
None of these announcements should come as a surprise. As an impending unrestricted free agent, Chris Tierney scored one goal in his last 61 games played. A back injury has derailed a once-promising career. With how far Tierney’s game has fallen off, it’s hard to believe that he only turns 28 years old this July.
On whether he believes the right guys emerged this season…
“Definitely, the right guys emerged this year, but others could have taken a step. Some did, but some others didn’t take a step. Some others didn’t play up to the level they are capable of. But, at the same time, you look at the key components of our team and most of those guys took good strides.”
A general manager is never going to throw his roster under the bus, especially since he has been here since the 2016-17 season and has his fingerprints over every transaction. Every player on this roster is his. The reality of Ottawa’s situation is with the exception of the young core, there’s not a ton of talent to get excited about. Connor Brown and Artyom Zub are nice pieces, but each player only has one year left on their contract. With each player looking at a raise on their next deal, it will be interesting to see how the Senators manage their cap situation.
Josh Norris and Alex Formenton will be looking for significant raises on their next extensions and the team has significant money and term owed to inconsequential veterans like Nikita Zaitsev and Matt Murray. In addition to Colin White’s regrettable long-term contract extension and management has painted itself into a corner and needs to be exponentially better when it comes to spending its limited resources.
A few of these problems could be remedied with buyouts, but without any guarantees that the organization would commit to that route without new ownership and cash, that may not happen. Some of Pierre Dorion’s best moves have come when he has jettisoned his self-created problems through trades, so maybe it is possible that he can find some suitors. The problem is that the team should ideally be in a position where the roster isn’t laden with bad contracts that the team needs to get out of. The last thing the organization wants to do is burn years of this young core’s inexpensive prime because the roster has not been insulated properly and the team needs more time to get out from underneath a few bad deals before it can add.
On whether the top-four is still an area to be addressed despite the additions of Travis Hamonic and Jake Sanderson…
“Well, if you look at every team that is probably aspiring for the Cup, they went out and got top-four defencemen. If you look at Colorado, you look at Florida, probably Tampa… didn’t do it this year… I don’t think you’re going to find too many GMs that don’t want to add a top-four defenceman. We’re fortunate enough… You guys know that at times, I can be very conservative approach about our prospects and how we bring them (up) and play them. Adding Travis (Hamonic) was the simple reason if you look at what’s out there on the right-hand side, most likely you hear through the media what their contract demands will be, it didn’t make sense for us to go and acquire those guys. Now, could there be someone on the trade market maybe in the summer? Maybe. We didn’t want to take a chance. He’s fit in great here. He just stepped into the room here. D.J. (Smith) said it best. As far as his approach, one of D.J.’s favourite players was Ron Hainsey. And as far as his approach, how he’s fit in and how he’s played, we’ve been very happy about it. He’s not 100-percent right now. He played hurt. Trust me, he played really hurt. He wanted to play. He could have pulled the chute. On Jake Sanderson, again, I’m going to be a bit careful and temper expectations… but, in my time in Ottawa, I don’t… there’s Erik Karlsson and (Thomas Chabot) and Jake Sanderson is of that calibre.”
The timing of the Hamonic move was always interesting. It was a move that could have waited until the offseason, but the Senators were aggressive because they viewed him as a relatively inexpensive piece that they could target. Rather than wait for the market to develop, they went out to grab a player who was available at the time. Would the trade market for Hamonic have been strong enough to worry about prospective competition? I don’t know, but based on the reactions coming out of Vancouver, the Senators probably could have been able to wait it out. At least in this scenario, they could have weighed the prospective alternatives on the market before settling.
The presence of Jake Sanderson can have massive implications for this team’s success. That’s not to put any pressure on him simply because the left-shot alternatives behind Thomas Chabot aren’t particularly strong. It may take him some time to adjust, build strength and produce at the level people are hoping for, but even if he can simply defend and help the team’s transition game right away, it will go a long way to helping cure the puck possession problems that have plagued this organization for years.
If the Senators can simply get two pairings that can move the puck and help tilt the ice in the team’s favour, it will help this team close the gap on the teams that finished ahead of Ottawa in 2021-22.
On how he would evaluate his own performance in the general manager’s chair…
“I’ll let the people above me evaluate my performance. When we started this rebuild, I knew what needed to be done. We’ve probably followed the plan pretty much to the letter. At a certain point in time, the importance was to bring more character guys and probably top-end players – acquiring through trades and free agents… there might have been one guy that we acquired through free agency that I felt was a top guy, but a lot of the other guys were all about their character and making sure the young players that are doing it the right way were learning from them. Because as much as you can tell them as a GM, or more importantly, you tell them as a coach or coaching staff, sometimes the best examples are the players themselves. But, I’ll let the other people above me evaluate me.”
Dorion was never going to downplay his performance in the general manager’s chair. With the likelihood of new ownership coming in at some point over the next year or two, the possibility of being in a lame-duck situation feels very real. It would have been interesting to hear him reflect on this, but he has to recognize the position he is in. More importantly, I want to know how this situation will influence and impact his roster-building decisions. If Dorion views this season as potentially his last kick at the can, will he be more liberal in moving draft picks and young assets to chase short-term success that may put him in a more favourable light when a buyer emerges? Or, will he methodically make moves with a long-term view believing that this will reflect more positively on him? If Dorion is worried about job preservation or opportunities elsewhere, continuing to build with a more patient approach may be the best path to take.
On the ownership situation and how it affects the organization’s ability to spend…
“Well, on that part, in the last few years, I’ve answered to a board. That will continue. The board has the same vision as I think we have here. Obviously, things have changed over the last few weeks, but in all my dealings over the last few years, it was always obviously to Mr. Melnyk. I call him mister because he did a lot for this city. I probably spent about two and a half hours with (the board) the other day and they know that this team is on the right path. As far as where we’re going to spend, it’s no secret where we’ve spent the last four years. You can figure it out for yourself where we’ve spent, but that was part of the rebuild. And, I think as we move forward, we’re going to spend more money. Are we going to be a team that spends $81.5 million next year? No. Unless you can guarantee me that we’ll sell out the 41 (home) games, I think I can push that through to spend $81.5 million. But, if we’re not going to sell out the 41 home games, I think we’re still going to be a team… I don’t think we’ll be where we were in the previous four years, but I think we’re going to bridge a certain amount to maybe now go after higher quality free agents or acquire higher quality players because that’s what we feel (is important). You talk to the players and we feel that’s the direction that we should be going into.”
Per CapFriendly, the Senators have 14 players on the roster signed with a projected cap hit of $59.1 million. Their actual salary expenditure is approximately $56.94 million. It feels safe to assume that the contract extensions to Alex Formenton and Josh Norris will tack on close to $10 million to those totals. The Senators could save some money by buying out Colin White at one-third of the cost of his contract, but if the team can find some way to reallocate the money owed to Nikita Zaitsev and Matt Murray, that would be ideal.
What makes Zaitsev’s situation interesting is that he is owed a $2 million signing bonus over each of the next two seasons. Signing bonuses have never been palatable for Senators ownership, so it will be interesting to see how aggressive they are to move him before it is due this summer. If the Senators wind up paying it, the likelihood of a buyout is small. The team would only be saving $1.67 million in cap space in each of the next two seasons. Paying his signing bonus may make him more attractive as a trade candidate however and may help ensure that the Senators do not have to take on an equally crappy contract to rid themselves of him.
On what he has learned in the last few years of free agency about the challenges to bring people here…
“What you have to realize with free agency is that when you’re not a team that’s at the top, unless you overpay, they will not come here. And whether we like it or not, some players do not want to play under the media scrutiny of Canada. And that is a thing. Unless you can talk to Prime Minister Trudeau or Premier Ford about changing our tax structure, that’s another thing that comes into play. We’re one of the highest-taxed places to play in North America. Those are all things that (factor in). There are some advantages. People like to play under pressure. So, that tells you when a free agent comes here a lot of times, they want to play under the pressure of playing in Canada. And it’s always, they have a choice. We can do the best selling job possible – whether it’s D.J. or myself… At times, obviously, ownership comes in when it’s a big thing. Sometimes they do want to talk to the player, which I have no qualms. But, things like this happen and it’s getting players to commit. It was the same thing when we signed Brady (Tkachuk). He wanted to see a certain kind of commitment from us to be a winner and at that point in time, Mr. Melnyk made that commitment to him. It’s just making sure that… there’s not nothing to learn… it’s just the facts and reality. A lot of us are from here and we love Ottawa. I’m from here and I love Ottawa. If I was a player, I think I’d want to play in Ottawa. Some people are not from Ottawa and maybe it’s their choice not to want to play in Ottawa.”
Dorion took some heat online for his comments about needing fans to sell out the 41 home games before the team can afford to spend to the salary cap ceiling. In fairness to the organization, they are coming off two seasons in which Covid ravaged their revenue streams and season seat sales have diminished to the lowest levels in this franchise’s history.
If the Senators cannot spend to the cap ceiling, that is just the reality that we have to deal with as fans. Unfortunately, in this interview, no one asked Dorion if he could reallocate a fraction of what he spends on players to invest in his front office and give him more tools to mitigate the risks that this organization has struggled to avoid. For the cost of a league-average player, the organization could hire more scouts and build itself an in-house analytics department.
Spending can also be a bit of a chicken and an egg argument. If the Senators did spend more (and spend efficiently) investing in their own business, it probably would encourage more fans to buy tickets and become season seat holders. It may even help persuade fans who grew apathetic to the organization towards the end of the Melnyk era to become re-engaged with their product.
It is not a surprise to hear Dorion acknowledge the disadvantages this city has when it comes to attracting talent. The weather, taxes, an eccentric owner, and a team that has struggled to put a competitive product on the ice have all made it more difficult for the team to pursue players in free agency.
On what a successful 2022-23 season is…
“We have to play meaningful games to the end. I think that’s probably the best way to put it. Let’s look at what our roster looks like in September and then I’ll have a better clearcut indication. I’ll probably give you a better answer than I’m giving you now. Let’s just look at our roster when the season starts and we have to play meaningful games at the end. At this point in time, that would be a successful season. If Ian (Mendes) can guarantee me that we’ll sell out 41 (home) games and we’ll be able to spend $80 million, our expectations might be different.”
This playing meaningful games towards the end of the season has been the goal for the last three seasons. Setting low expectations helps Dorion out because it causes fans to expect less. If the team exceeds those expectations, it makes the general manager look better. And if the team performs as stated, it may afford him more time. It is why throwing timelines like the ‘Five Years of Unparalleled Success’ is foolish. It gives critics a tangible thing to hold over your head if things go awry.
On using that goal at the beginning of this past season…
“Yeah, and the one thing that we’ve looked at… it’s two years in a row that we’ve started slow. I’m not going to give you our exhibition schedule because it should be finalized in the next two weeks. But, we’re probably going to play nine games next year. We’re probably going to have our team sooner than later. We might do a few things about going away as a group beforehand because D.J. and I have looked at it. Two years in a row we’ve started slow. Two years ago was a different year, just travel within Canada and no exhibition games. This year we had exhibition games, but it felt weird. Now, next year we’re finally following a regular schedule. Every team had to go through this. But, we’ll look to add a few exhibition games this year and maybe have our team sooner. The thing with that is, you don’t want injuries in the last two or three games when you’re playing your full roster. Maybe going away as a group beforehand (to bond) because that’s your team… trust me, we’ve looked at multiple scenarios. I remember when we were working with (Daniel Alfredsson) here, he had a… Alfie at times, thinking about outside the box, he said if it was up to him, he’d have training camp for two months… and this is a former player talking here and I don’t want to misquote him… training camp for two months and we’d play one exhibition game. At the time I (thought), well, you probably wouldn’t get injuries if you did that, but I don’t know how well the team is going to be prepared. Now, I’ve never been a big fan of exhibition games because of injury concerns, but now, I see how this young group probably needs to prepare. And, having more exhibition games will probably be beneficial for us.”
The thing with poor performances at the beginning of a season is that they are arbitrary start and endpoints. It’s not like the 2020-21 start is in any way related to the team’s start to the 2021-22 season. It is why I never placed too much emphasis on how the Senators concluded the 2021-22 season and believed that the team could carry that momentum into the following season. It makes for a nice narrative and opportunity to spin things and market some upside, but teams will have good and bad stretches throughout the course of a season. Bad teams just happen to have more bad stretches and for Ottawa, they just coincidentally happened to occur at the beginning of the last two seasons.
On the importance of getting Josh Norris signed after the negative impact this season’s late start had on Brady Tkachuk…
“There was no doubt it had an effect on Brady even though Brady tells me he takes credit for the (American) U18 team playing for gold. Which, he told me the other day because I was in Germany. I talked to Brady because he was with those guys for a little while. Brady and Jake (Sanderson) were there, so Jake knew a few players from playing on the World Junior team. Brady pretty much took full credit, and I’m joking here, for the success of the U.S. On Josh (Norris), it’s very simple and I’m not going to mislead anyone. I think two days after Brady was done, I phoned Craig (Oster) and I said, ‘We haven’t talked in a day. Something is wrong. Do you want to do something right now?’ He phoned me back a week later and he said, ‘It’s the player’s wish to do something most likely right after the season or after the season.’ I’m paraphrasing not quoting Craig. With players, I never talk contract during the year. But, it came up. Josh and I talked about it yesterday. Believe it or not, an agent didn’t lie to me. Josh would like to get something done. But, we hope we can do something quickly. Obviously, he’s not going to the World Championships because of that. So obviously, in the near future, I’ll reach out or Craig will reach out to get something done. We’ve already talked on (Erik Brannstrom) about a possible contract. So hopefully, we can get something done sooner than later. Sometimes it can be the player’s choice and not the organization’s choice about trying to get something done earlier. Sometimes you can try as much as you can, but if a player doesn’t want to sign immediately… sometimes if you start negotiating and it drags on their mind and it affects their play, they don’t want it. Sometimes they want to (negotiate) at the end of the year and we have to respect it.”
If I could not get Josh Norris signed to a discounted contract extension before or during the 2021-22 season, I’d certainly hang it on the decision of the Norris camp to wait until after the season was over. Norris and his representatives look smart for banking on themselves and his ability. After potting 35 goals and 55 points, Norris has certainly put himself in a position for a nice payday. From the team’s perspective, it would have been great to see him sign a team-friendly contract like the six-year, $29.85 million contract ($4.975 million AAV) that Drake Batherson signed. With this season’s production though, the likelihood of getting that heavily discounted extension has likely diminished.
On where things are at with Matt Murray…
“I think we had a productive exit interview yesterday. Zac Bierk sat in on it with D.J. and myself. With all the players, it was just D.J. and myself that sat in on these exit interviews because I feel that if they’ve got anything to say, they can say it to either of us. With Matt, I told him… I think in expected goals against, he was 12th in the league as of Thursday – which is the stat that matters most to me. After he came back from Belleville in January and February, if you omit his last two starts, he was fourth in save percentage – which is another stat that matters to me and the organization. He knows he’s coming back next year. He has showed us at times, if you look at right after we made the goalie coach change, I think he was 3 and 1 with a .954 save percentage last year – a very short sample. In a sample size this year, in January and February he was very good. I think in January, we were above .500 as a team and in February, I think we were one game below. If we had beat Montreal the last game there at the end of the month I think when (Chabot) got sick there, we played with five defencemen and 13 forwards because it was after 5 (pm), we couldn’t call up anyone. And (Murray) was a big part of that. We all feel that… there is a chance that we have three goalies next year. All three guys know. The exit interview with Filip (Gustavsson) was short and to the point. ‘In the year 2021, you were probably the best goalie that played for the Ottawa Senators. This year out of the three, you were probably the worst. Find a way to get back to being the best.’ He said, ‘Okay.’ I said, ‘Go win in Belleville tomorrow.’ He went down there and he won. He was outstanding yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to watch the game live, but I watched the game here for two periods, drove home and watched most of the third. When we scored 4-1, I jumped in the car to go to Hawkesbury. But, he was… that five-on-three… like Gus… we were going to be in the playoffs and Troy (Mann) wanted to get to third and finish the highest. He wanted him to play and that’s why we arranged the schedule for Gus to play against Florida and Anton (Forsberg) to play against (Philadelphia). He was sensational yesterday. That five-on-three in the third period, the three or four or five saves he made were outstanding. And there is a chance that we’re going to have three goalies. And, on Belleville, I don’t want to hide the fact that maybe Mark Kastelic would have been here for the whole month to see if he can do the job next year and other players which I’m not going to name by name. But, we tried to do everything to help Belleville to get into the playoffs because we feel that’s important. For us as an organization, two years when we didn’t get a chance to play in the playoffs and Peter (MacTavish)… we make fun of Peter at times… calls it a team… what is the term? Not a franchise… a ‘generational team’ Peter called it. That team in Belleville with Drake (Batherson) and Josh (Norris). When that team didn’t get to go a round in the playoffs, it has hurt us. There’s no doubt denying that. When you look at it when we won the Calder Cup a few years ago, a lot of those guys became established NHL players in their roles. We just feel that that playoff run would have helped us – whether it would have given us 10 more points this year or last year, it really affected us. We don’t have as many top-end prospects there as we had on that team. That team was special, but having those guys play this year, I can feel comfortable in telling you that five, six, seven or eight (players) will be NHL regulars depending on their role. Some could be 12 forwards, some could be no. 2 defencemen. We wanted to really help Belleville. We wanted to have more callups and give guys more games, but at the same time, I think we owe it to our organization and to the Belleville fans down there too, and the progress of our players and trying to help them win.”
There is no chance in hell that Dorion is going to bury Matt Murray when he has two years and $15 million left on his contract, but the trade and signing have been an absolute disaster from the moment it was finalized. It is impossible to get excited about a four-game sample in 2021 and a nine-game sample in 2022 when he has been wholly unreliable from a performance and a health standpoint. I certainly feel for a player who has struggled to stay on the ice, but when so much money is invested in a player who cannot stay healthy or be counted upon to play at a high level consistently, it is probably time to find a way to move on.
Carrying three goaltenders when the Senators are so budget-conscious just does not strike me as the most efficient use of the team’s limited budget.
It is interesting that Dorion pivoted to discussing Belleville and the importance of playing meaningful AHL playoff games and how it hurt his team that some prospects were never able to play in them. From that 2019-20 Belleville team, the only players on the parent roster right now are Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, Alex Formenton, Erik Brannstrom, Parker Kelly and Filip Gustavsson. With the exception of Gustavsson -- whose performance waned because he never played regularly behind Anton Forsberg and Matt Murray – the rest of the players mentioned here turned out pretty well. Batherson and Norris look like key cogs at the top of an NHL lineup while Formenton showcased enough talent this season to give reason to believe that he could eventually surpass the 20 to 25-goal mark if he finishes more of his individual chances. Parker Kelly looks like he could be a decent and agitating depth player at the NHL level, while Erik Brannstrom was labeled by Dorion as being the team’s ‘most improved defenceman’ this season. If the Senators or any of these players were hurt by a missed 2019-20 AHL postseason, I’m at a loss for why. Most of these players are simply too talented to be negatively impacted by some minor league playoff games.
This isn’t like the 2005 Binghamton Senators team that was loaded because of the NHL lockout and needed games for their development. Looking back at the Senators’ 2011 Calder Cup-winning roster, the only players who really went on to have lasting NHL careers were Mike Hoffman, Mark Borowiecki, Zack Smith, Derek Grant and Robin Lehner. Lehner and Hoffman put together some impressive seasons, none of these aforementioned players will be mistaken for a star.
Playing meaningful AHL games certainly is not going to hinder a player’s development, but I don’t believe it is a precursor for an individual’s or team’s future success.
On Michael Del Zotto being waived yesterday…
“Yes, he was. We’ll see what happens at 2 pm. He’s on waivers right now, so I don’t want to talk about it. Because he’s on waivers, I didn’t want to keep you here until 2:15 pm, so…”
Michael Del Zotto played 26 games this season while an ineffective Victor Mete was given 37 games. I would love to know the reason why Del Zotto was waived 10 games into his Senators’ career. It feels like there has to be a story there.
On any players exceeding his expectations this year…
“I could name quite a few. Anton Forsberg to start. (Chabot). I think Chabby had his best year. I will argue… I know the Olympics did not happen. I will argue until I die that he was on that Olympic team. Only Doug Armstrong and a few other people know, but to me, he had his best year. I think (Nick) Holden, on the ice and off the ice. You guys see the quirky guy, but you guys don’t see the little things that he does to help Brady (Tkachuk) and Thomas (Chabot) and some of the leadership group. Offhand quickly like that, (Alex Formenton) did well and then he slowed down a little bit. But, obviously with what Brady (Tkachuk) did in the second half. Tim Stützle. I love hockey. I’d pay to see Tim Stützle play every night. I probably shouldn’t say that in case we start negotiating this summer, but anyways. Drake (Batherson) was our best player. There was no doubt to me that Drake was our best player until he got hurt. Offhand, Parker Kelly. I think the way (Austin Watson) finished the year. (Dylan) Gambrell had some really good sequences, so I’m just thinking off the top of my head. You can bring up anyone and I don’t mind talking about everyone, but we had players who I think performed very well.”
The best players are the ones belonging to the team’s young core. Rinse. Repeat.
On which players are going to the World Championships and updating which players were injured…
“Worlds: (Drake) Batherson, (Thomas) Chabot, obviously Connor Brown and maybe they were going to ask a few other guys who were injured. But, I’ll let Team Canada speak about that. Stützle for Germany. Austin Watson and Adam Gaudette for the U.S. . And, possibly one more for the U.S. . I think they’ve had a few more players decline to come, so there could be someone else for the U.S., but those are the five confirmed at this point in time. Others have been asked and out of respect towards them, they declined because we had lots of bumps and bruises at the end. A lot of guys played really hurt – whether it was almost on one leg or with a shoulder or hand. Obviously, you guys know that Brady (Tkachuk) declined. He was playing banged up. He really wanted to get 30 goals. It was funny how things switched on the power play in that last power play of the year. Injuries? Okay, Tyler Ennis was a shoulder I believe. Matt Murray, he discussed it yesterday, it was a concussion. He battled hard and he wanted to go to the Worlds. I’m not sure if he had a setback, but he just… he wouldn’t be 100 percent. If you go to a tournament like that, you’ve got to be 100 percent. Connor Brown, both wrists. Not one. I think he played with a broken wrist the last 10 games or whatever it was, so give him kudos. Shane Pinto, shoulder obviously. He wanted to play. We wanted him to play. I’m not a doctor, but we felt he was ready to play. The surgeon said nada. That surgery is four to six months and we were at five months. (The surgeon) wanted it to be six months. Shane wanted to play. I think Shane talked to the surgeon to try and convince him, so that says a lot about him. Mathieu Joseph, I think it’s shoulder and sternum. We thought he’d be ready to play, but the combination of both of those injuries made him so he wouldn’t be available til probably, if we played in the playoffs, probably until the second round. Colin White, Covid and it hit him hard but he’s fine right now. Jake Sanderson, when we got… we didn’t get the information until he was signed. That’s just the way the agent… we got information from the surgeon that it was four to six weeks from the date he got operated on, which I believe was March 15th. So, we thought he could play. He tried to go out there and it didn’t really go well. He reinjured the hand warming up because we thought there might be an outside chance to play in the last two games. He reinjured the hand just this week and he’s in a cast for the next six weeks, but he will be ready to play once training camp starts.”
It is not uncommon for a general manager to praise players for playing through injuries, but the only thing that matters here is that everyone is going to be healthy enough to have a productive offseason.
On whether Jake Sanderson will be at the development camp…
“Yeah, Shane Pinto and Jake Sanderson will both be at rookie camp. Shane won’t come to the development camp unless it’s (inaudible) for a few days. But, Jake will be at development camp. But, both will play at rookie camp. Has it been announced where we’re playing in rookie camp? Okay, I guess I’ll have to keep it a secret for now.”
The Jake Sanderson hype train starts now.
On Tyler Boucher and whether he is a candidate to play in Belleville’s postseason…
“I’m going to be a bit sensitive on this one. There’s been a personal issue in the family. If not, he would have been in Belleville already. We’ll let that sort itself out out of respect for the family. I saw Brian (Boucher) actually at a 67’s game and I’m thrilled with the way Tyler’s played. I saw him three or four times live. We’ve got a special power forward coming.”
According to a transaction tweet by CapFriendly, Tyler Boucher was moved to the minor league roster today. I would assume that whatever family issue arose, it has changed enough to allow Boucher to join Belleville for the postseason.
On the Eastern Conference and what his team has to do to close the gap on the ones ahead of it…
“For us to close the gap, we definitely have got to get out of the gate better in the upcoming years. We’ve got to play meaningful games in the second half. We need to surround this special, young group of players with some good veterans. And, when I talk about character, but also quality of players. I think it’s no big secret in what we’re going to try and do over this summer and the next few summers.”
Adding a top-six forward like Claude Giroux would certainly help, but I don’t know how realistic that is or whether the team has the budget to make it a contract work two or three years down the line when the rest of its young core are coming off their entry-level contracts. The easiest way to close the gap, the Senators need to improve their blueline. Adding Jake Sanderson is a great first step, but the Senators cannot play Nick Holden and Nikita Zaitsev top-four minutes. That leaves the Senators with some combination of Sanderson, Chabot, Zub and Hamonic playing top-four minutes. Is that good enough to push for a postseason spot? Possibly, but they will need strong performances by everyone to make it work.
On how important it makes this offseason when Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk have yet to play meaningful games…
“Both talked about it, more Thomas, in the exit interviews and we’re aware of it. Thomas is one of the better defencemen in the league and he understood the process. When we talked after the trade deadline, Thomas and I had a really honest conversation. I appreciated it. He said, ‘I’ve put a lot of faith in what you’re going to do to bring us to the next level, but at the same time, picks and prospects only go so far. We need players.’ We know that. He knows… not who we’re going to target, but he knows the type of player that we’re possibly going to target. But at the same time, it goes back to, we’re not a Cup contending team right away. It’s tough to get some of those guys that want to win a Cup when they’re top-end players to come here just because we’re not there yet. So, I told both him and Brady that I might need their help in recruiting players. I’m not going to say… two players that we acquired over the past year yesterday told me that they hear the perception of Ottawa. And whatever that might be, when they get here, you’re treated first class. One guy that has played for a while, he said, ‘It’s the best room I’ve ever been in. There’s no cliques. They all like each other. They all care about each other.’ One of the best things that I saw this year was after Timmy… well, it wasn’t really a fight, but what he had to do in Montreal. For some reason, I came down quick after the game because I know the elevator in Montreal can take forever. I saw Brady and he said, ‘Are you okay? Like, you don’t need to do that.’ It’s the little things that probably a lot of people don’t see, but how much they care about each other. How much they’ve got their backs. In what other players have told us from the exit interviews yesterday, how much we have a great room bodes well for the future.”
The players are cognizant of the fact that the majority of them have entered their respective primes. The best opportunity to extend a window of contention as long as it can is to be good during this stretch of time. The longer management takes to insulate these players with talent, the more the organization shortens that competitive window. The important thing to recognize here is that management is feeling the pressure from the players and the fans. Mix in the fact that Dorion has to recognize that he may not be long for his position (or even the possibility of landing another general manager’s position again). It all adds up to create this perfect storm situation where you have absolutely no idea which direction Dorion could take this franchise.
On the 2022 Draft Lottery and how he feels about the draft…
“When I left our mid-year meetings, I wasn’t sure that there was a player in the draft that our scouts were (thrilled with), but that’s how scouts are mid-year. I got out and saw quite a bit of hockey. I was in Germany. I was in Europe. I was out west. I was supposed to be in Winnipeg the day of the greatest blizzard of the century. I’ve been in the Ontario league. I’ve been in the Quebec league. It’s a good draft. You might not get… after the top players, you might not get as many first-line players, but you’re going to get a lot of second, third and quality fourth-line players. You may not get a legit no. 1, top defenceman, but you’re going to get a lot of no. 2, no. 3, and no. 4 defencemen. So, it’s a good draft. Right now, we’ve got five picks in the first three rounds, I believe. If I’m off, I apologize. But, we’ve got lots of picks and whether we use those picks… If we win the lottery, we’re not going to trade that pick. If not, we’ll look at it. But, adding another good, young piece wherever we pick – whether its seven or eight or nine, one or two – we’ll find a way to get a good player.”
From a competitive standpoint, the Senators will probably want to draft a talented player who they believe has a chance to play sooner rather than later. The commonly held perception around hockey circles is that it often takes more time for defencemen to acquaint themselves at the NHL level and be productive players, so it stands to reason that the Senators will look for a forward. It just so happens that their most pressing need is for more top-six skill on the wing. The Senators may look to shop their pick and it makes sense to do their due diligence to see who may be available to them, but I have a hard time believing that they would be open to the possibility of acquiring inexpensive talent that would be under team control through this team’s competitive window.
On using draft pick capital to address team needs in a trade…
“Yes, you can, but we’re not going to get a frontline player for a third-round pick. So, it’s all about weighing what makes sense, but yeah, obviously for sure, for us, we’d like to do that. Our cupboard is full of prospects and we’ve got a lot of picks. So, we’re not afraid to do it and at times, we’ve done things in the past to bring in-depth and character guys. Now it’s more about definitely having the resources to bring in quality and quality at a certain price.”
I have written extensively about this before, but the Senators have essentially graduated their best prospects to the parent level. Shane Pinto and Jake Sanderson will be regulars next season and Ridly Greig is probably the most talented and projectable player left in their system. The rest of Ottawa’s prospects have created depth and depth at every position, but not all of these players are going to stick or become quality NHL players. The risk that Ottawa runs is that if this next wave of prospects runs into attrition and the Senators move a lot of significant draft pick capital, the system runs the risk of drying up rather quickly.
As the team allocates more money towards its best young players, it needs that steady stream of inexpensive talent to fill the gaps and outproduce their contracts.
On the flip side of the coin, the Senators definitely need to improve the true talent of the roster. How can they do that properly, without emptying the system?
Adding a free agent like Claude Giroux, at the cost of just money without having to move any assets, would help. The opportunity to add a top-six forward without having to touch their draft or prospect capital would give the Senators more future assets to hold onto or use in a trade to address another area of need.
https://autopod.isilive.ca/podcasts/chum/205/94309/pd%20ender.mp3