How much rope does DJ Smith have? [UPDATE: None]

[Swisssen]

Nobody understands that DJ still has his job. No improvments, bad defence, no in game ajustments and this stupid dump and chase style.

 

[Very Stable Genius]

The longer Staios waits the more nervous I get about him leading Hockey Ops.

 

[otown]

DJ has had his kick at the can and the results are obvious. If you are prepared to go with the status quo we know exactly where this is going to end up!

 

[Micklebot]

Practice is at 10:30 today. If DJ was getting fired would you not think it would have been done by now ?

I still think they either want to wait till they have a GM or perhaps have some guys in mind that they are waiting on till the offseason to become available.

Staois does need to make a move to keep his job, he's not on the hot seat so he'll be patient imo, that might be bad for this season but could be good long term.

I really want them to make a change, but the plan may be to ride it out for better or worse.

 

[h2]

The longer Staios waits the more nervous I get about him leading Hockey Ops.

Agreed,

This is starting to make the new regime look bad because the next course of action is blatantly clear to the entire hockey universe. I understand wanting to inject stability/maturity/patience after taking over a team from a volatile previous owner/management, but this isn't the time for that. This needed to be done last year.

 

[GCK]

I still think they either want to wait till they have a GM or perhaps have some guys in mind that they are waiting on till the offseason to become available.

Staois does need to make a move to keep his job, he's not on the hot seat so he'll be patient imo, that might be bad for this season but could be good long term.

I really want them to make a change, but the plan may be to ride it out for better or worse.

I’m worried about that. I’m getting close to checking out on the season. I’m not mad anymore, I just expect crap hockey.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Is he gone yet?

 

[senswon]

literally just waiting for a 10am presser.
tear the band aid off please

 

[otown]

I still think they either want to wait till they have a GM or perhaps have some guys in mind that they are waiting on till the offseason to become available.

Staois does need to make a move to keep his job, he's not on the hot seat so he'll be patient imo, that might be bad for this season but could be good long term.

I really want them to make a change, but the plan may be to ride it out for better or worse.

Good point regarding the big picture and waiting for a GM appointment. If there is a delay in firing DJ it is definitely related to this.

 

[Flamingo]

I still think they either want to wait till they have a GM or perhaps have some guys in mind that they are waiting on till the offseason to become available.

Staois does need to make a move to keep his job, he's not on the hot seat so he'll be patient imo, that might be bad for this season but could be good long term.

I really want them to make a change, but the plan may be to ride it out for better or worse.

An embarrassing game really gets the fans tearing up their programs in disgust, but Staios doesn't have to scratch that itch immediately. Cassie Campbell said she's heard a change will come, but it's not the right time. The depth of our embarrassment and frustration doesn't quicken the pace.

 

[bert]

The longer Staios waits the more nervous I get about him leading Hockey Ops.

I haven't felt that way. I'd like a stable calculated approach. They're evaluating the entire franchise not just the coaching. The late sale put this ownership group in a tough spot. That being said they have to make a coaching change now. Too many bad habits and selfish play. It's gotta stop now.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I have the feeling that the players think that they can win on skills alone, that they don't have to grind and get dirty to win hockey games.

What do you guys think about Bob Hartley coaching this team?

Hartley is never coaching in the NHL.

 

[UglyPuckling]

An embarrassing game really gets the fans tearing up their programs in disgust, but Staios doesn't have to scratch that itch immediately. Cassie Campbell said she's heard a change will come, but it's not the right time. The depth of our embarrassment and frustration doesn't quicken the pace.

Pros and cons.

If they wait, how much will attendance suffer? If attendance drops, how long will it take to build it back up?

Players (core, etc.) seem to be regressing versus progressing. How much regression do they want to experience? Will there be any long term impact if there's too much regression to undo.

OR

Hire an interim coach, and then possibly in the worst case, hire a GM who then replaces the interim coach with another coach of his choice.

 

[Xspyrit]

I don't know if anyone remembers but I have said in the past that it would take time to recover from a Melnyk - Dorion - DJ era

This trifecta was probably one of the worst in NHL history, 2 of these parts are not there anymore, we need to purge the last part to reset and hopefully move away from the "losing culture" that has settled in

Yet they predict we're going to finish with 96 points.

How does that add up?

How? This is our results so far at ES

CF% : 20th
SF% : 20th
xGF% : 27th
SCF% : 29th
HDCF% : 30th

Routine attempts/shots make the shot clock look better but we're getting destroyed out there. You can't be successful sucking that much at ES

The caveat is that we get league average goaltending and finishing. We've been massively lucky with our high finishing % so far, what's going to happen when it reverts to the mean and our goaltending is still bottom of the league?

Not a lot of margin for error for us. Whatever it is about this team, goalies perform bad here. I see our finishing % come back down to earth much more likelier than our goaltending improving.

Look at Korpisalo last night, some high robbery on several chances but still gave up 5 goals and had a 0.868 SV%

As I have repeated for years, it is EXTREMELY HARD for goalies to have good numbers in Ottawa under this system. That's why the Forsberg 2021-22 season was near Vezina level

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Agreed,

This is starting to make the new regime look bad because the next course of action is blatantly clear to the entire hockey universe. I understand wanting to inject stability/maturity/patience after taking over a team from a volatile previous owner/management, but this isn't the time for that. This needed to be done last year.

Nah. They weren't owners until the season already started. Can't blame them for waiting.

Andlauer is playing the long game. I would guess he has no problem with this being a dead year. He'll wait until summer to bring in the person for GM that he wants to stick with for the next decade or so.

It sucks for us, because we've been waiting to compete for a few years now...after dismantling a damned good core. But...it is what it is.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I'm not gonna jump on Staios about this, but it's getting obvious what needs to be done. Put the poor guy out of his misery if anything.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

The longer Staios waits the more nervous I get about him leading Hockey Ops.

This is what I’m saying and I bet ALOT of the fan base agrees with you. He needs to show he has some cojones. If only to show he has them

 

[BondraTime]

People need to get it though their heads that Staios, and Andlauer did/do not expect anything from the Sens this season. This team is Dorion's. I highly, highly doubt that their position in the league is surprising to them. It's not that surprising to me.

They were pumping the breaks as soon as they got here. All we heard is that we have lots of work to do, there were still lots of moves and additions that need to be made.

It sucks, because the prior management team and ownership proclaimed this was a team that was destined for greatness, and playoff bound "this year" (or next, or the year after....) for the better part of 4 years.

This is not a very good team. It needs a serious revamp, and will likely get that this summer when a new GM comes into town.

We lost a year essentially by the sale being pushed until September. We couldn't get new managemtn in, and we had Dorion running things. Does our new GM see things the same way Dorion did? Very, very doubtful.

I'd look at this years draft as a very large turning point. I think we see some movement of guys we are surprised and upset to see moved, and see us poach 3/4 members of management, coaching and scouting teams around the league.

 

[bert]

literally just waiting for a 10am presser.
tear the band aid off please

Doesn't look like it. More of the same. Sad state.

 

[Very Stable Genius]

If you want to ride the season out and get a lottery pick then fine, but at least have a Director of Scouting in place or a GM to hire one. All this sitting back and evaluating is going to have a direct implication on the draft, free agency etc...

 

[MoreGore]

The only thing that I can think of for poor performance not coaching related is the basic lack of games. The team seems out of sync, so poor execution.

Each missed pass, bobbled puck, changes possession and if you are making those mistakes and extra 20 times in a game, you will lose.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

They’re guys might not be available. But if they are they should be hired immediately. I want the net GM and new coach to see these players for the next 60 games and then make a choice.

 

[Xspyrit]

I still think they either want to wait till they have a GM or perhaps have some guys in mind that they are waiting on till the offseason to become available.

Staois does need to make a move to keep his job, he's not on the hot seat so he'll be patient imo, that might be bad for this season but could be good long term.

I really want them to make a change, but the plan may be to ride it out for better or worse.

Problem is not making the playoffs this year means that spending 10th OA + 7th OA +12th OA on Tyler Boucher, Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun become even more useless/painful

Just by randomly looking at which players were taken just after (in Boucher's case) or at these picks' position, we'd have these guys in the system :

Cole Sillinger, Kevin Korchinski and Denton Mateychuk (+ three 2nds and a 3rd)

Instead we have Kubalik, Boucher, a late 1st in 2024 and Chychrun (UFA after next season)

And it's not only that, we have spent 2nd + 3rd + 4th + 7th to get rid of Murray and Zaitsev's contracts, whose contracts expire this season.

I'll stop there but in summary, we have been BLEEDING

 

[Dionysus]

Problem is not making the playoffs this year means that spending 10th OA + 7th OA +12th OA on Tyler Boucher, Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun become even more useless/painful

Just by randomly looking at which players were taken just after (in Boucher's case) or at these picks' position, we'd have these guys in the system :

Cole Sillinger, Kevin Korchinski and Denton Mateychuk (+ three 2nds and a 3rd)

Instead we have Kubalik, Boucher, a late 1st in 2024 and Chychrun (UFA after next season)

And it's not only that, we have spent 2nd + 3rd + 4th + 7th to get rid of Murray and Zaitsev's contracts, whose contracts expire this season.

I'll stop there but in summary, we have been BLEEDING

Sunk cost. Those mistakes are made, have to look forward at how to improve. New management does not need to worry about the optics or attachments to players brought in by Dorion.

 

[Knave]

DJ Smith needs to go at this point.

We need to figure out what this roster actually is and then make changes and the easiest way to know that is to make a change at coach. Get someone who thinks he can "fix it" with his systems, ideas and then see what happens. Is this a borderline playoff roster? Is this roster as bad as it is under DJ Smith? What are we dealing with? We need to find out now. And maybe this team under DJ Smith is what it is. But better to be sure with a new coach.

Most teams with young stars like us would be looking to compete for a playoff spot at bare minimum in the 4th year after drafting our biggest star(s) of the bunch in Stutzle and Sanderson. We look like we're going to be a bottom feeder or at least comfortably out of the playoff picture again. And this is us as a cap team. It's bad.