Pierre Dorion has resigned and been relieved of his duties as general manager of the Ottawa Senators. President of hockey operations Steve Staios will take the reins as interim GM.
The team announced Dorion’s abrupt and unexpected Dorion’s departure after eight seasons at the helm during a Wednesday news conference featuring owner Michael Andlauer, who purchased the team last spring, and Staois.
Dorion’s ousting came on the heels of Ottawa being stripped of a first-round draft choice for the franchise’s role in an invalidated trade in 2022 between Evgenii Dadonov and the Anaheim Ducks that Andlauer said came with a 73-page document, which he only received last week, dictating how the Senators were “negligent in nature” and that was a final push to move on from Dorion.
“I think a lot of the decisions that have been made or some of the issues that we’ve had could have been avoided,” Andlauer said.
“Our duty of care was ignored, which set off events that embarrassed the league and pissed off two other NHL clubs. As a member of this league, we have to be held accountable for our actions, and while this was done before my watch, I must respect that decision. So today I’m here to announce that Pierre Dorian has resigned and been relieved of his duties as general manager.”
Andlauer said it was over dinner with Dorion on Tuesday the sides determined they were “best to part ways.” But it was not an in the moment decision. Andlauer said he told Staois, who joined the Senators organization in late September as the first major hire by Andlauer, last week he was strongly considering a change at the GM post.
The NHL’s harsh punishment for the Dadonov debacle, plus the recent gambling-related 41-game suspension of restricted free agent Shane Pinto, forced Andlauer into action and pursuing a new path in the GM slot.
Dorion, 51 years-of-age, started his time with the Senators back in 2007 as chief amateur scout, eventually moving his way up the ranks to director of player personnel in 2009 and assistant general manager in 2014. He was officially named the new GM on April 10, 2016, taking over for Bryan Murray. Under Dorion, Ottawa made one playoff appearance, advancing to the 2007 Eastern Conference Final.
Head coach DJ Smith, who was brought on board by Dorion in 2019, will remain in place along with his staff.
Embed from Getty ImagesOver the course of Ottawa’s transparent press conference, Andlauer expressed frustration that he is facing the backlash and consequences coming from the Dadonov’s botched trade attempt.
Ottawa is only now having to forfeit a first-round draft choice in either 2024, 2025 or 2026 as punishment stemming from their 2021 trade of Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights, where Ottawa failed to inform Vegas that Dadonov’s contract included a 10-team no-trade clause. That caused the Golden Knights’ subsequent trade attempt of Dadonov to the Ducks in 2022 to be invalidated.
“Why I inherited this is beyond me,” Andlauer said. “There’s no reason for [an investigation] to take so long.”
The Senators will now have to decide which season they will give up the first-round choice, a decision that must be made within 24 hours of that year’s draft lottery.
“We’ll go through a process to identify our best-case scenario and how it will be less debilitating [on our organization],” Andlauer said in terms of choosing a season to give up their pick. “We haven’t really gotten to that but there will be a process that we will put in place and take a long hard look at it.”
On top of this week’s difficulties, the Senators have also dealt with fallout surrounding Pinto’s suspension. Pinto, who has yet to sign a new deal with the club, was assessed a 41-game ban on October 26 for violating the NHL’s betting rules. The league did not provide details on why Pinto had specifically been flagged but did say he was not being accused of wagering on NHL games.
Andlauer maintained the NHL’s investigation into Pinto’s activity began last summer but the organization was not made aware of it until more recently. To that end, Andlauer wanted negotiations with Pinto to be couched until they gathered all the facts. And again, Andlauer was taken aback by the NHL’s own lack of transparency around when Pinto was being investigated and the bungled Dadonov transaction.
“I don’t understand why it [all] took so long,” said Andlauer. “Maybe because the club was for sale and they didn’t want to disrupt [the process], so making sure the seller got the biggest price possible. I don’t know. I can’t answer that. You’ll have to ask the league that question.”
In the meantime, Staois is conducting an expansive search for Ottawa’s next general manager. He said the priority is to “instill stability and confidence in the group” immediately following what can only be described as a turbulent first month of the season in Canada’s capital city.
“I’ll do what’s best for the Ottawa Senators,” Staois said. “That’s the bottom line. “So, I think as this [search] starts to unfold, I think we’re going to take a longer look at what our options might be and who might be available.”
