Sportsnet: Senators begin to shed basement brand with transformative off-season

[AchtzehnBaby]

Senators begin to shed basement brand with transformative off-season

Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion repeated a line he has used often during this period of player acquisition and blue chip draft picks for Ottawa.

“I’m not going to make any bold statements,” Dorion said, flatly, when asked how much his hockey team has improved from the one that finished 30th, 31st and 30th the past three seasons.

To which owner Eugene Melnyk said: Hold my caffeine-free, citrus-flavoured drink.

Bold statements are Melnyk’s forte. And he didn’t disappoint in a recent feature interview in the National Post.
“I truly believe that we are a Stanley Cup winner within four years,” Melnyk said. “It can happen any time, but within four years.”

But no pressure, guys.

----------------

Lest we be accused of wearing rose-coloured specs in the glare of the Nation’s Capital, consider that Corey Pronman of The Athletic placed the Senators third in the NHL in his recent rankings of organizational prospects (22 and under). The New York Rangers were ranked first.

“There is a cavalry coming to help,” Pronman wrote of the Senators’ young guns. "I think there are better days ahead for this organization."

Click to read more...

 

[Senscore]

Realistically we have only one direction to go.

 

[JD1]

Scanlan's disdain for the Senators really comes through in that article

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

A cup in that time frame would be nothing short of a miracle though I do appreciate the chutzpah. Power of positive thinking and all that.

 

[TheDebater]

Realistically we have only one direction to go.

32nd?


Good to see Dorion has learned from past mistakes where he would constantly use hyperbole and come out looking a fool.


Melnyk on the other hand...

 

[Senscore]

32nd?


Good to see Dorion has learned from past mistakes where he would constantly use hyperbole and come out looking a fool.


Melnyk on the other hand...

I am confident enough to say we are going to be better than Detroit for a while.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Scanlan's disdain for the Senators really comes through in that article

How so?

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

Scanlan's disdain for the Senators really comes through in that article

I thought it was pretty reasonable. He captures the mood around the city wrt to Melnyck and the Sens pretty accurately, IMO.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

And to think there are some people arguing that Dorion should have done whatever he needed to retain Karlsson, Methot, Phaneuf, Borowiecki, Pageau, Stone and others.

I would argue that some of these players were big fan favourites, but there always comes a time when, for whatever reasons, fan favourites move on to another organization or retire... and as they age, their value declines, and tough decisions are sometimes necessary..... just look at what is happening in Chicago.... they're saddled with at least four huge unmovable contracts, that after they were signed, did not deliver a Stanley Cup, and are rebuilding with these aging veterans for about the next 3 seasons.

Dorion saw the need to rebuild, and had to decide who to retain and move forward with, and if he did not see them, or if they did not want to be part of a total rebuild... he made the tough decisions knowing the fallout from fans would be directed at him.

 

[Wondercarrot]

And to think there are some people arguing that Dorion should have done whatever he needed to retain Karlsson, Methot, Phaneuf, Borowiecki, Pageau, Stone and others.

I would argue that some of these players were big fan favourites, but there always comes a time when, for whatever reasons, fan favourites move on to another organization or retire... and as they age, their value declines, and tough decisions are sometimes necessary..... just look at what is happening in Chicago.... they're saddled with at least four huge unmovable contracts, that after they were signed, did not deliver a Stanley Cup, and are rebuilding with these aging veterans for about the next four seasons.

Dorion saw the need to rebuild, and had to decide who to retain and move forward with, and if he did not see them, or if they did not want to be part of a total rebuild... he made the tough decisions knowing the fallout from fans would be directed at him.

lol

 

[SensFactor]

And to think there are some people arguing that Dorion should have done whatever he needed to retain Karlsson, Methot, Phaneuf, Borowiecki, Pageau, Stone and others.

I would argue that some of these players were big fan favourites, but there always comes a time when, for whatever reasons, fan favourites move on to another organization or retire... and as they age, their value declines, and tough decisions are sometimes necessary..... just look at what is happening in Chicago.... they're saddled with at least four huge unmovable contracts, that after they were signed, did not deliver a Stanley Cup, and are rebuilding with these aging veterans for about the next four seasons.

Dorion saw the need to rebuild, and had to decide who to retain and move forward with, and if he did not see them, or if they did not want to be part of a total rebuild... he made the tough decisions knowing the fallout from fans would be directed at him.

Can't believe we traded Stone. That one hurts the most. I had him penciled in as our next captain. Vegas is now reaping the benefits from a gem we found in the 6th round of the draft and then developed into a top 6 player.

 

[branch]

And to think there are some people arguing that Dorion should have done whatever he needed to retain Karlsson, Methot, Phaneuf, Borowiecki, Pageau, Stone and others.

I would argue that some of these players were big fan favourites, but there always comes a time when, for whatever reasons, fan favourites move on to another organization or retire... and as they age, their value declines, and tough decisions are sometimes necessary..... just look at what is happening in Chicago.... they're saddled with at least four huge unmovable contracts, that after they were signed, did not deliver a Stanley Cup, and are rebuilding with these aging veterans for about the next four seasons.

Dorion saw the need to rebuild, and had to decide who to retain and move forward with, and if he did not see them, or if they did not want to be part of a total rebuild... he made the tough decisions knowing the fallout from fans would be directed at him.

Great stuff

 

[otown]

I thought it was pretty reasonable. He captures the mood around the city wrt to Melnyck and the Sens pretty accurately, IMO.

Scanlan is a very reputable journalist and calls them as he sees them. Not close enough to the Sens (as a day to day reporter) to feel the wrath of EM. Well respected in sports circles as a real pro in his field.

 

[BatherSeason]

And to think there are some people arguing that Dorion should have done whatever he needed to retain Karlsson, Methot, Phaneuf, Borowiecki, Pageau, Stone and others.

Re: Karlsson, Stone, Pageau, Duchene: Wasn't the story back then that Dorion DID do everything in his power to retain these players?? Remember, we blamed the players for not wanting to be here.

 

[SensFactor]

Re: Karlsson, Stone, Pageau, Duchene: Wasn't the story back then that Dorion DID do everything in his power to retain these players?? Remember, we blamed the players for not wanting to be here.

To my belief there was a rift between Karlsson/Melnyk and to be honest I think we dodged a bullet there as Karlsson looks to be declining fast in SJ. Duchene I never thought wanted to be part of a rebuilding team and again I think we dodged another bullet by letting him go. The ones that sting are Stone and Pageau. I think Dorion did try and get both signed but both players chose to go to teams that were cup contenders. I similar situation is developing in Chicago where I expect a lot of their vets to be moved within the next year although not many teams can fit Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Keith under their cap at the moment.

 

[BatherSeason]

To my belief there was a rift between Karlsson/Melnyk and to be honest I think we dodged a bullet there as Karlsson looks to be declining fast in SJ. Duchene I never thought wanted to be part of a rebuilding team and again I think we dodged another bullet by letting him go. The ones that sting are Stone and Pageau. I think Dorion did try and get both signed but both players chose to go to teams that were cup contenders. I similar situation is developing in Chicago where I expect a lot of their vets to be moved within the next year although not many teams can fit Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Keith under their cap at the moment.

Not saying that we didn't dodge any bullets, we definitely did, just dont think it was as planned and calculated as some think.

 

[Cosmix]

The Athletic "It’s hard to spend $15 million and get worse, but Ottawa found a way."

 

[GCK]

Re: Karlsson, Stone, Pageau, Duchene: Wasn't the story back then that Dorion DID do everything in his power to retain these players?? Remember, we blamed the players for not wanting to be here.

Dorion desperately wanted to keep EK and Stone not sure he was committed to locking up JGP.

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

The Athletic "It’s hard to spend $15 million and get worse, but Ottawa found a way."

Why people look at stats articles is beyond me

 

[JD1]

I thought it was pretty reasonable. He captures the mood around the city wrt to Melnyck and the Sens pretty accurately, IMO.

Which I'd say is a degree of disdain

 

[JD1]

Not saying that we didn't dodge any bullets, we definitely did, just dont think it was as planned and calculated as some think.

Wasn't the sentiment in here that the offer to Karlsson was genuine, real or market value or whatever term you want to put on it?

That was the prevailing sentiment or am i misremembering that?

 

[JD1]

The Athletic "It’s hard to spend $15 million and get worse, but Ottawa found a way."

What article did you read that in?

 

[jhutter]

What article did you read that in?

The one from the analytics expert that most certainly never played a game of organized hockey. He calculated that the Sens actually reduced their wins by -.6 despite an addition of $15m in salary.

 

[Hale The Villain]

There's no question we've improved with:

Murray replacing Anderson
Dadonov replacing Duclair
Brown/Norris replacing Pageau
Brannstrom replacing DeMelo
Batherson replacing Ennis
Gudbranson replacing Boro
Stutzle replacing Namestinikov
and the likes of Watson, Balcers, Formenton, Abramov etc... filling out the bottom 6 instead of Ryan, Boedker, Sabourin and Beaudin.

...but unless Murray stands on his head and guys like Batherson and Brown go full Stone/Hoffman as rookies and put up 50+ points, I don't think we'll get out of the bottom 5.

 

[JD1]

The one from the analytics expert that most certainly never played a game of organized hockey. He calculated that the Sens actually reduced their wins by -.6 despite an addition of $15m in salary.

I'd like to read that article

Do you know the author's name? Or a key word in the article title?