The Ottawa Senators’ 2023-24 season has been defined by patience. Michael Andlauer had to be patient when the sale of the team took far longer than expected, only taking ownership days before the season began. He needed patience after the NHL stripped the Senators of a first-round pick following the Evgenii Dadonov trade, which led to general manager Pierre Dorion being fired. Steve Staios also had to be patient in finding a new general manager, and after nearly two months, named himself and Dave Poulin as the duo to lead the front office. Before that, he had to fire head coach D.J. Smith, naming coaching consultant Jacques Martin as the interim head coach – a replacement still hasn’t been named.
Every step under Andlauer has been done carefully and methodically. Even trades have been few and far between despite reports that Staios was one of the most active general managers at the trade deadline. But with the season winding down and the Senators again outside the playoffs, the situation is starting to pick up.
On Apr. 6, Staios announced that two scouts, Jim Clark and Rob Murphy, had been let go. This seems like a minor change, but Murphy was the organization’s head pro scout, a position he took over from Clark at the beginning of the season, and both were former directors of scouting. This might be the beginning of something big.
According to the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, “It’s expected there will be more changes to the Senators’ scouting staff before the NHL draft in June. Staios wants to put his stamp on the team, so he’ll bring in his own trusted advisors” (from “THE BREAKDOWN: Ottawa Senators officially eliminated from playoffs with loss to Devils,” Ottawa Sun, 06/04/2024).
The 2024 NHL Draft could be one of the most important dates for the Senators since 2020 when they had the third and fifth overall selections. Those two picks, used to select Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson, propelled the rebuild forward, but the previous management group didn’t finish the job they started, adding roster players before completing the process. That job now falls to Staios and company, and their patience is exactly what the Senators need to succeed in the future.
Senators Scouting Department Needs Help
At one point, the Senators had one of the best farm systems in the NHL, but those days are long gone. The Hockey Writers’ Best Farm System Ranked…
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