Confirmed with Link: Murray steps down, Dorion is our new GM

[TheNewEra]

This better be accompanied with our entire coaching staff being fired

Murray was fine considering the financial constraints he had on him, I expect more of the same from Dorian with us maybe trading for more picks since Dorian is is a very good prospect analyzer

 

[pepty]

I Hope Dorion will be permitted to be his own man and make his own decisions.Murray seems to be Melnyks hockey guru and has been the center of things for so long it may be hard for Dorion to grab the reins.

 

[jason2020]

This better be accompanied with our entire coaching staff being fired

Murray was fine considering the financial constraints he had on him, I expect more of the same from Dorian with us maybe trading for more picks since Dorian is is a very good prospect analyzer

If there is one knock on Murray its at times he is to loyal to some players.

 

[Tundraman]

Sounds like it will be an underwhelming announcement!

 

[OgieO]

Murray inherited a roster that was on its last legs after a very long sustained run of excellence. Unfortunately, Muckler left the cupboards BARE. Basically empty. Murray perhaps should have re-built earlier but I think he's done a good job filling the roster with talent. We lack depth but that would appear to be for 2 reasons:
1. Budget
2. Our re-build is still new, some of our prospects are just cracking the lineup while others aren't ready yet to fill depth roles.

He wasn't a fantastic GM, but I think he did a pretty decent job considering the hand he was dealt. He did get us Karlsson, Stone, Hoffman, Ceci, Zibby, Pageau & Smith from the draft and Methot, Anderson & Turris from trades of drafted players. That's not a bad nucleus to work with. We're really only one or two good pieces away from being in the thick of it. That plus coaching improvements, an improvement in special teams alone makes us a playoff team again.

Also, systems are cyclical - ours is 24th because we just graduated a bunch of players because we need them on the roster both for financial reasons and because we succeeded in picking good players.

 

[MarkStone]

If this is true I hope the coaching staff is at least held accountable and replaced with experienced outside people because management isn't seeming to be held to that standard.

 

[jason2020]

Sounds like it will be an underwhelming announcement!

What were you expecting.

 

[Tundraman]

What were you expecting.

Scorched earth!

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

I've been hearing how young we are for years now; it isn't totally accurate.

Ottawa is definitely on the younger end of the spectrum, but really there is only marginal variance in the average age between teams.

http://mirtle.blogspot.ca/2015/10/2015-16-nhl-teams-by-height-weight-and.html?m=1

Yeah, the whole we're a very young team thing is really not true anymore.

 

[jason2020]

Yeah, the whole we're a very young team thing is really not true anymore.

It is true there one if not the youngest teams.

 

[TheNewEra]

If there is one knock on Murray its at times he is to loyal to some players.

Definitely, but it also leads back to the financial constraints. Those players that feel an attachment to Ottawa or feel like Ottawa owes them something are easier to negotiate with and we get them on favorable deals. The ones that dont have that same attachment/wanting to repay we end up trading away when it comes time to negotiate.

Its a tough gamble to make and there are a few players that i wish were gone off our team/traded earlier etc but considering the budget I can see why we need to keep players around longer then we should.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Well, probably two hours too early to say this....but, told ya! It's been pretty evident for several months now (that and the organization said last summer this was his final year as GM).

So much angst the last few months from many folks on here. And for what?

 

[TheNewEra]

Well, probably two hours too early to say this....but, told ya! It's been pretty evident for several months now (that and the organization said last summer this was his final year as GM).

So much angst the last few months from many folks on here. And for what?

i would say people are still on edge if their isnt a cameron firing real soon

say what you want about murray but we definitely left some points on the ice with some of the idiotic decisions cameron made consistently throughout the year

 

[pepty]

If this is true I hope the coaching staff is at least held accountable and replaced with experienced outside people because management isn't seeming to be held to that standard.

I am hoping that they dont just fire the assistant coaches and keep the Cameron experiment going.

It would be no favour to Cameron to bring him back. He has a better chance of getting at least an assistant position elsewhere now than if he is forced out a few weeks or months into next year due to a fan revolt.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

i would say people are still on edge if their isnt a cameron firing real soon

say what you want about murray but we definitely left some points on the ice with some of the idiotic decisions cameron made consistently throughout the year

I'm no Cameron fan. I wanted to keep MacLean. But.....you can say the same about all coaches. They're all human, and they've all made decisions over the course of a season that have cost their team points.

I would say the truckload of injuries this year, and a few guys not putting in the required sweat in the summer, cost us way more games than coaching.

All that said, a new GM should have his own coach behind the bench. And that coach should be able to pick his own assistants.

 

[ChelFan31]

This doesn't change anything....This is still the same rusty old car just with a new paint job...

This is the still same regime who signed off on the Bishop/Spezza deals...

Still similar viewpoints and team building philosophies...we need a fresh set of eyes...this move does nothing but a PR spin

 

[Benjamin]

6 years too late.

Glad its Dorion becoming GM.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I won't judge Dorian just because he has a relationship with Bryan Murray. When you have a boss who makes some poor decisions it's not like your only option is to copy him. Actually that only applies when that boss leaves. In this case it looks like BM will still be Dorions boss. So I dono.

 

[ThreeMs]

Hopefully Dorion will be able to run the team as he sees fit and that he's not just a puppet for Murray. Personally, I'd rather see them bring in someone from outside, but that would cost money.

 

[TheNewEra]

I'm no Cameron fan. I wanted to keep MacLean. But.....you can say the same about all coaches. They're all human, and they've all made decisions over the course of a season that have cost their team points.

I would say the truckload of injuries this year, and a few guys not putting in the required sweat in the summer, cost us way more games than coaching.

All that said, a new GM should have his own coach behind the bench. And that coach should be able to pick his own assistants.

my biggest issue with cameron is that if we follow the bolded point, you make a mistake once,twice, three times even but you learn from it then its fine

its the fact that he kept making the same mistake over and over again for more than half the season that i want him gone. Coaches have their gut instincts sure but eventually a coach needs to adapt if the game plan isnt working

take hoffman and the pp as an example up until the blues game in january he would consistently get pp time on the second unit, he got bumped up to pp 1 that game our pp looked decent and we won that game. Instead of running with the same game plan at least to see how it works long term he is back to the second unit until beginning/middle of march

then there is the consistent need of trying zibby/ryan when they do not work well together

there are many other points and frankly if cameron could adapt after making the same mistake a few times i would have no issue, he only started showing signs of improved after melnyk went off and i really hope that doesnt buy him a second chance

 

[Shanny]

In hindshight; it should've been Tim Murray, but hey.....what are you going to do right?.....kick Cancers butt Bryan!!

 

[jason2020]

6 years too late.

Glad its Dorion becoming GM.

I really wish people would look at the team before Murray took over it was in awful shape.

 

[Sens Rule]

In hindshight; it should've been Tim Murray, but hey.....what are you going to do right?.....kick Cancers butt Bryan!!

I am so glad you it isn't Tim Murray. We are so lucky he left the organization and wasn't promoted here.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I really wish people would look at the team before Murray took over it was in awful shape.

Yeah it was awful. It's still awful.

 

[jason2020]

This doesn't change anything....This is still the same rusty old car just with a new paint job...

This is the still same regime who signed off on the Bishop/Spezza deals...

Still similar viewpoints and team building philosophies...we need a fresh set of eyes...this move does nothing but a PR spin

As for the Spezza deal they got the best they could as for fresh eyes you have to be very careful with that idea you could get a gm who says I don`t support the idea of a long rebuild and starts trading youth and picks.