News Article: Murray likely to step down after season, will pick his own successor

[Micklebot]

both were good in Ottawa.
Stillman didnt add much that Eaves couldnt
Commodre was terrble

hindsight

Eaves declined due to injuries but still was a decent bottom 6 forward
Stillman who repeatedly was called a goal scorer sucked at ...well scoring goals
Corvo would continue to be a good offensive defensemen for years to come including being a top pairing Dman in Carolina.
Commodre was terrible and would leave the NHL after 1 more good season
Both UFAs in commodore and stillman would not resign

So we traded an RFA 20 goal scorer for a ufa non goal scorer
Dynamic offensive defensemen with term for toughness that could barely play hockey and was a ufa

I'm not sure what you mean by Stillman offered nothing Eaves couldn't. Stillman found instant chemisty with Vermette, and was a solid 2 way player for us. Eaves had an unsustainable hot streak in his rookie year that had people expecting too much of him (yourself included it seems, his goal scoring declined every year as a Sen). He was never going to be an elite goal scorer or anything, injuries likely prevented him from being a 3rd line 2nd line tweener as he lacked the skill level to create opportunities on his own.

As for Corvo, he was a nightmare defensively (and bailed on contact far too often), but added some good offense. The team was trying to address the defensive side with Meszaros and Redden expected to carry the load offensively. They also had Lee looking like a promising puck moving D coming up at the time. We were also accused of being too soft, so Commodore was expected to address that. Also, Corvo being a top pairing D in Carolina falls under the same category of Phililps being a top pairing D (the first time, with Volchenkov); not ideal.

Tbh, I would have liked the deal if Stillman was re-signed, but as a pure rental it was a little disapointing.

 

[edguy]

Shero was GM from 2006 to 2014.

In that time he's drafted a whole lot of nothing. Like seriously awful.

Good thing we have Doiron and Lee still then to do tge drafting and scouting

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

I'm not sure what you mean by Stillman offered nothing Eaves couldn't. Stillman found instant chemisty with Vermette, and was a solid 2 way player for us. Eaves had an unsustainable hot streak in his rookie year that had people expecting too much of him (yourself included it seems, his goal scoring declined every year as a Sen). He was never going to be an elite goal scorer or anything, injuries likely prevented him from being a 3rd line 2nd line tweener as he lacked the skill level to create opportunities on his own.

As for Corvo, he was a nightmare defensively (and bailed on contact far too often), but added some good offense. The team was trying to address the defensive side with Meszaros and Redden expected to carry the load offensively. They also had Lee looking like a promising puck moving D coming up at the time. We were also accused of being too soft, so Commodore was expected to address that. Also, Corvo being a top pairing D in Carolina falls under the same category of Phililps being a top pairing D (the first time, with Volchenkov); not ideal.

Tbh, I would have liked the deal if Stillman was re-signed, but as a pure rental it was a little disapointing.

3 god damn goals thats all i need to say about stillman watch the Murray video. Stillman didnt contribute in the way he was expected to. Eaves probably would have only been moderately worse then Stillman over the half year stillman played and he definitely could have been solid in the future. Suggesting eaves rookie season was a fluke is also a little under selling his ability. He had a few shortened seasons in detroit where i believe he played well in bottom 6 minutes. Had he been healthy multiple 20 goals season were a possibility. Corvo= 100 times better then Commodore+ wasnt a ufa and had term. Corvo played on carolina's top pairing when he shouldnt have but still the fact that its even possible for him equals 100 times better then commodore as a ufa. I also take issue with you seliing stillman as the Vermette whisperer. Vermette would prove very capable of being just as good without stillman and his 3 goals.

Stillman wasnt a solid two way player to my recollection. During his time here the team went through some turmoil but in no way do i remember thinking that he was some excellent two way force with his minus 8. I dont ever remember him being called some excellent shut down forward during his time in the NHL but to be fair he wasnt really a player i knew a lot about before coming to ottawa.


I'm a little different then most posters though... i think assists are an extremely over valued stats especially secondary ones. Maybe thats why i dont value hemsky's performance here like other posters.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

both were good in Ottawa.
Stillman didnt add much that Eaves couldnt
Commodre was terrble

hindsight

Eaves declined due to injuries but still was a decent bottom 6 forward
Stillman who repeatedly was called a goal scorer sucked at ...well scoring goals
Corvo would continue to be a good offensive defensemen for years to come including being a top pairing Dman in Carolina.
Commodre was terrible and would leave the NHL after 1 more good season
Both UFAs in commodore and stillman would not resign

So we traded an RFA 20 goal scorer for a ufa non goal scorer
Dynamic offensive defensemen with term for toughness that could barely play hockey and was a ufa

Pro athletes have a lot of pride. When a guy says he just can't hack the pressure, that's one heck of a big warning sign. These guys are tough, but they're still human.

Trading Corvo at the time hurt the team, but it was the best thing for the person. And that's more important (even if he isn't the most likeable person on the planet).

 

[ATdaisuki]

3 god damn goals thats all i need to say about stillman watch the Murray video. Stillman didnt contribute in the way he was expected to. Eaves probably would have only been moderately worse then Stillman over the half year stillman played and he definitely could have been solid in the future. Suggesting eaves rookie season was a fluke is also a little under selling his ability. He had a few shortened seasons in detroit where i believe he played well in bottom 6 minutes. Had he been healthy multiple 20 goals season were a possibility. Corvo= 100 times better then Commodore+ wasnt a ufa and had term. Corvo played on carolina's top pairing when he shouldnt have but still the fact that its even possible for him equals 100 times better then commodore as a ufa. I also take issue with you seliing stillman as the Vermette whisperer. Vermette would prove very capable of being just as good without stillman and his 3 goals.

Stillman wasnt a solid two way player to my recollection. During his time here the team went through some turmoil but in no way do i remember thinking that he was some excellent two way force with his minus 8. I dont ever remember him being called some excellent shut down forward during his time in the NHL but to be fair he wasnt really a player i knew a lot about before coming to ottawa.

stillman scored nine more points in two less games, lol. 64.9 point pace compared to a 31.5 point pace. it wasn't even close. stillman was a good two way player while he was here. not amazing, but he was solid.

corvo was done here. sure, he was still effective, but if we didn't trade him, there was a very real risk of him becoming a locker room problem.

commodore sucked, but avoiding issues in the room was important.

overall, the trade was even in my eyes.

 

[Micklebot]

Shero was GM from 2006 to 2014.

In that time he's drafted a whole lot of nothing. Like seriously awful.

The drafted Muzzin in the 5th round, Espisito would probably have been a good player had it not been for a crazy amount of injuries, Despres is a great prospect, as is Beau Bennett. Maatta and Pouliot will be good to great players.

They have limited success outside the 1st round (pretty much Muzzin and Bortuzzo) but have some good value out of thier 1st rounders imo.

Besides, we have a well established scouting staff, so long as he doesn't break that up, we should continue to have success at the draft. That said, I don't see Shero as a builder, he's more of a guy that will make moves to get the team over the hump. Not really what we need imo.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

Pro athletes have a lot of pride. When a guy says he just can't hack the pressure, that's one heck of a big warning sign. These guys are tough, but they're still human.

Trading Corvo at the time hurt the team, but it was the best thing for the person. And that's more important (even if he isn't the most likeable person on the planet).

Was murray buying out Emery when he supposedly had troubles the best thing to do for him as a person?

Was shipping Mcgratten away to phoenix with his drinking problem the best thing to do for him as a person?

We dont 100 percent know the circumstances of these players and their problems. Its probably classless of me to bring this up. If you can figure out a way to help Corvo and hurt the team by sending him away because he's having a hissy fit with the media i would hope you could have gotten them help without just passing them off to other team. Emery and Mcgratten would prove to solve their problems but they easily could have ended up as brian fogarty. I'm disgusted that i even brought that up but dont tell me sending away players is always doing best by them.

If corvo had some sort of mental health issue i dont think sending him away can be considered the best move.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

The drafted Muzzin in the 5th round, Espisito would probably have been a good player had it not been for a crazy amount of injuries, Despres is a great prospect, as is Beau Bennett. Maatta and Pouliot will be good to great players.

They have limited success outside the 1st round (pretty much Muzzin and Bortuzzo) but have some good value out of thier 1st rounders imo.

Besides, we have a well established scouting staff, so long as he doesn't break that up, we should continue to have success at the draft. That said, I don't see Shero as a builder, he's more of a guy that will make moves to get the team over the hump. Not really what we need imo.

He also chose not to sign Muzzin.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

stillman scored nine more points in two less games, lol. 64.9 point pace compared to a 31.5 point pace. it wasn't even close. stillman was a good two way player while he was here. not amazing, but he was solid.

corvo was done here. sure, he was still effective, but if we didn't trade him, there was a very real risk of him becoming a locker room problem.

commodore sucked, but avoiding issues in the room was important.

overall, the trade was even in my eyes.

I dont nearly consider those assists as valuable as you it would seem. 3 goals was simply not good enough for me when Murray sold him as a goal scorer. Locker room problem? lol thats funny whats corvo going to do? start telling his teammates about how the media calls his uh oh joe?

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

I'm going to have to guess that i'm over reacting by taking issue with the corvo trade. Doesnt seem many other people take issue with it.

 

[Boud]

Happy he decided to spend some time with his familly, I'm sure his wife wants to enjoy the time she has left with him.

For the GM position, I'm sure it's going to be someone within the organization. I doubt they go a different route as it would probably cost more and when the person is already in the system it makes the change seemless usually. I suspect Dorion will be the one to take over since he's the most active management guy aside from Bryan.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Was murray buying out Emery when he supposedly had troubles the best thing to do for him as a person?

Was shipping Mcgratten away to phoenix with his drinking problem the best thing to do for him as a person?

We dont 100 percent know the circumstances of these players and their problems. Its probably classless of me to bring this up. If you can figure out a way to help Corvo and hurt the team by sending him away because he's having a hissy fit with the media i would hope you could have gotten them help without just passing them off to other team. Emery and Mcgratten would prove to solve their problems but they easily could have ended up as brian fogarty. I'm disgusted that i even brought that up but dont tell me sending away players is always doing best by them.

If corvo had some sort of mental health issue i dont think sending him away can be considered the best move.

With Corvo, a big thing was the Canadian market and the pressure that went with it. Going to a less intense market is pretty much all he needed.

And yes, there are some guys on the past roster that we probably should've done more to help. I'm just happy hockey culture is starting to change a bit and players aren't just cattle (to some teams, anyway).

 

[operasen]

Can we keep to the Murray discussion in here. I get lost with all the Eaves, Stillman, Muzzan, Commadore etc stuff. Good discussion, but probably should be elsewhere.

 

[Sensfanatic]

Happy he decided to spend some time with his familly, I'm sure his wife wants to enjoy the time she has left with him.

For the GM position, I'm sure it's going to be someone within the organization. I doubt they go a different route as it would probably cost more and when the person is already in the system it makes the change seemless usually. I suspect Dorion will be the one to take over since he's the most active management guy aside from Bryan.

I hope it isn't Dorion. Whenever he is interviewed, I find his responses really lacking. He doesn't come across as GM material. Wish Tim Murray would have stuck around.

 

[Micklebot]

3 god damn goals thats all i need to say about stillman watch the Murray video. Stillman didnt contribute in the way he was expected to. Eaves probably would have only been moderately worse then Stillman over the half year stillman played and he definitely could have been solid in the future. Suggesting eaves rookie season was a fluke is also a little under selling his ability. He had a few shortened seasons in detroit where i believe he played well in bottom 6 minutes. Had he been healthy multiple 20 goals season were a possibility. Corvo= 100 times better then Commodore+ wasnt a ufa and had term. Corvo played on carolina's top pairing when he shouldnt have but still the fact that its even possible for him equals 100 times better then commodore as a ufa. I also take issue with you seliing stillman as the Vermette whisperer. Vermette would prove very capable of being just as good without stillman and his 3 goals.

Stillman wasnt a solid two way player to my recollection. During his time here the team went through some turmoil but in no way do i remember thinking that he was some excellent two way force with his minus 8. I dont ever remember him being called some excellent shut down forward during his time in the NHL but to be fair he wasnt really a player i knew a lot about before coming to ottawa.


I'm a little different then most posters though... i think assists are an extremely over valued stats especially secondary ones. Maybe thats why i dont value hemsky's performance here like other posters.

I always find it funny when people take a small sample and complain about production. Yes, 3 goals in 24 games wasn't the hope for him, however he has a history before and after of scoring goals. Much like you overvalued Eaves for uncharacteristically high sh% in his rookie year, you undervalue Stillman because of an uncharacteristically low Sh% in a small sample. He also scored 2 goals in 4 playoff games, which is where we really wanted the help. It's also funny how in one breath, you claim hindsight as being the only reason people don't mind loosing Eaves, but use hindsight to critique Stillman.

As for Vermette proving to be just as good without Stillman;

Situation|GP|G|A|pts|pace per 82 games
With Stillman in the lineup|26| 11| 10| 21| 35g, 31a 66pts
Without Stillman in the lineup|55| 13| 19| 32| 19g, 29a 48pts

So his production with Stillman on the team was on pace with his career high (3 year later as the #1 center in Clb), a level he would never again replicate.

edit: Wow, this is off topic.

On topic, I'm not sold on Shero for this team.

 

[pepty]

Julien Brisebois please. He's Yzerman assistant in Tampa. If not him, Paul Fenton.

For the love of all that is holy, LET'S NOT PROMOTE SOMEONE FROM THIS ORGANIZATION. This franchise is stale to death and in need of new ideas from the outside.

What this franchise needs is new ideas but if Murray picks his successor if its anything like his coach hires,it will not be someone from outside with strong ideas of their own, he will want to "mentor"him like he mentors the coaches. Also whoever comes in will have to know that the former GM /Coach will have a big say and that the present coach is the choice of the owner .

It would be a really great surprise if the new GM was really his own man from outside the Sens and the Murray family/friends circle and who was permitted to hire his own head coaches and have a free hand to implement his ideas .

 

[Boud]

What this franchise needs is new ideas but if Murray picks his successor if its anything like his coach hires,it will not be someone from outside with strong ideas of their own, he will want to "mentor"him like he mentors the coaches. Also whoever comes in will have to know that the former GM /Coach will have a big say and that the present coach is the choice of the owner .

It would be a really great surprise if the new GM was really his own man from outside the Sens and the Murray family/friends circle and who was permitted to hire his own head coaches and have a free hand to implement his ideas .

I also think they should pick someone from the outside but I'm less than optimistic that it's going to happen. Same thing happened with Cameron, I really hoped they would get someone from the outside, but so far I'm really impressed with his work and don't think anyone else could really make more of a difference. For all we know we may have a great GM in the organization but we can't really know until the change is made. I'd like to see a guy like Marc Bergevin. I think he isn't afraid to make bold moves and everything he does seems to be the good thing to do. I just don't think Melnyk will be open to spend lots of money on an experienced/proven guy.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

Julien Brisebois please. He's Yzerman assistant in Tampa. If not him, Paul Fenton.

For the love of all that is holy, LET'S NOT PROMOTE SOMEONE FROM THIS ORGANIZATION. This franchise is stale to death and in need of new ideas from the outside.

A thousand times this. Randy Lee? What does he know about being a general manager? Wasn't the strength and conditioning coach not so long ago?
Dorions is fine, but he comes off as a used car salesman when talking about his picks and the roster.

This team desperately, desperately needs an outside look and voice, that will take a long hard look at the team and say: "Ok, these pieces are quite good but why do we have so much X and so little Y?" and move on. The players and current staff are way too comfortable at the monent and that isn't helping the team improve.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

I always find it funny when people take a small sample and complain about production. Yes, 3 goals in 24 games wasn't the hope for him, however he has a history before and after of scoring goals. Much like you overvalued Eaves for uncharacteristically high sh% in his rookie year, you undervalue Stillman because of an uncharacteristically low Sh% in a small sample. He also scored 2 goals in 4 playoff games, which is where we really wanted the help. It's also funny how in one breath, you claim hindsight as being the only reason people don't mind loosing Eaves, but use hindsight to critique Stillman.

As for Vermette proving to be just as good without Stillman;

Situation|GP|G|A|pts|pace per 82 games
With Stillman in the lineup|26| 11| 10| 21| 35g, 31a 66pts
Without Stillman in the lineup|55| 13| 19| 32| 19g, 29a 48pts

So his production with Stillman on the team was on pace with his career high (3 year later as the #1 center in Clb), a level he would never again replicate.

You know what i see when i look up Vermette on hockey db. A regular 20 goal scorer. Guess what? he regularly scored 20 goals in seasons away from the sens and away from stillman. Vermette doesnt need any help to score 20 goals. How many primary assists were on Vermette goals? Surely you arent going to attribute a guy who clearly is capable of scoring 20 goals only scoring 20 goals in a season because of Stillman. I mean had eaves stayed on the team its realistic that hes could have given as many assists to Vermette as Stillman. Thats pretty gosh darn surprising

Career shooting percentage at its lowest well being on the sens? Well gosh jolly jee sounds like he sucked at scoring goals on the sens in a small sample size.

I never once said i place huge value on eaves rookie season. I'd more say he proved he could score 20 goals and if he could have remained healthy throughout his NHL career i wouldnt have been surprised if he was a regular 20 goal scorer on a second line.


Stillman is what he is. A second line aging ufa. If people want to applaud how much his stanley cup rings helped us in the playoffs...Go ahead. If people want to applaud his career low shooting percentage and 3 goals in ottawa because it was high in the past... go ahead. If people want to take credit away from vermette because he scored more goals when stillman was on the team... go ahead. If people want to jump for joy at stillmans -8 go ahead. I know in my mind i wouldnt have traded eaves for Stillman. I know i wouldnt have traded corvo for Commodore. This is the way i felt when the trade was made this is how i feel nearly 10 years later.


Just to be clear.. Did you criticize me for using a small sample size when it came to stillman's goal scoring then used 26 games to project a career year from Vermette?

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Why are we talking about Joe Corvo??! The guy was a thin-skinned defensive trainwreck who was jettisoned because he was a baby.

Frankly, I hated the fact that the team employed a convicted woman beater to begin with. And I hated it when they signed him AGAIN last year.

If you've ever met Joe Corvo, you'll know exactly what type of person he is.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Yeah but he had that sweet OT winner versus Buffalo. Uh oh Joe definitely came across as a doucher.

 

[Benjamin]

A thousand times this. Randy Lee? What does he know about being a general manager? Wasn't the strength and conditioning coach not so long ago?
Dorions is fine, but he comes off as a used car salesman when talking about his picks and the roster.

This team desperately, desperately needs an outside look and voice, that will take a long hard look at the team and say: "Ok, these pieces are quite good but why do we have so much X and so little Y?" and move on. The players and current staff are way too comfortable at the monent and that isn't helping the team improve.

agreed.

Maybe Randy spends a lot of time on HF?

 

[Micklebot]

A thousand times this. Randy Lee? What does he know about being a general manager? Wasn't the strength and conditioning coach not so long ago?
Dorions is fine, but he comes off as a used car salesman when talking about his picks and the roster.

This team desperately, desperately needs an outside look and voice, that will take a long hard look at the team and say: "Ok, these pieces are quite good but why do we have so much X and so little Y?" and move on. The players and current staff are way too comfortable at the monent and that isn't helping the team improve.

Not that I'm in favour of Lee, but he's been with the org forever and may well have been being groomed the entire time. I mean, Yzerman never had any GM experience before being named GM of team canada a year after retiring as a player. 4 years later, he's GM of the lightning.

Lee on the other hand has a Masters in Sports Admin, and has been director of hockey ops and player development for the last 5 years with 19 years experience in the front office (with the sens).

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Yeah but he had that sweet OT winner versus Buffalo. Uh oh Joe definitely came across as a doucher.

The most memorable thing from that whole season and run was how Tom Preissing cashed out huge from a super inflated plus/minus playing behind the Pizza Line.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

The most memorable thing from that whole season and run was how Tom Preissing cashed out huge from a super inflated plus/minus playing behind the Pizza Line.

That and the sweet video of Preissing walking around the mall asking people if they knew who he was and no one had a clue.