Management UPDATE: Steve Staios GM and POHO, Dave Poulin Senior VP of Hockey Operations

[Cosmix]

I think Staois is a good candidate. Poulin is very interesting, basically I like it, but I will say staois and co waited way too long to fire dj - and it's cost us the year, so hopefully in future decisions are made with more authority.

They also waited too long to fire Dorion.

I blame Melnyk and Dorion for the years of non-playoff hockey, due to the low budget, poor trades and poor coaching choices made by the GM.

I think Staois is a newbie at the NHL management level. Poulin has been out of NHL management for many years and that makes me wary of him although I did like him as a media person making comments on the team. Perhaps we will get lucky with those choices for senior management. However, neither meets my criteria for "bast in class".

 

[Cosmix]

I think it’s clear that a couple of posters simply want to continue their contrarian takes, and aren’t making any cogent arguments.

If Staios hired Chiarelli, a guy with a Cup ring and years of experience, they also would have freaked out.

And as @Micklebot pointed out, social media fav Mathieu Darche really doesn’t have more “experience” than Ryan Bowness, so I don’t understand how he’d be any more qualified.

Were people expecting Joe Sakic to leave Colorado or something?

This is pretty much what I figured would happen. Staios will be the GM until the 24/25 off-season, at which point Bowness will take over.

I’ll avoid getting outraged until they make a trade worthy of outrage.

Imagine if Andlauer hired Sakic or other experienced successful GM/POHO from another NHL team and paid whatever fine if any was imposed to get him as POHO in Ottawa. That would be a "best in class" type move.

Or Cheryl Pounder.

I like Cheryl and Methot as media commentators; however, I do not consider them as "best in class" type hirings.

 

[LiseL]

Imagine if Andlauer hired Sakic or other experienced successful GM/POHO from another NHL team and paid whatever fine if any was imposed to get him as POHO in Ottawa. That would be a "best in class" type move.


I like Cheryl and Methot as media commentators; however, I do not consider them as "best in class" type hirings.

Based on your criteria, you would have never hired Steve Yzerman as GM or Jon Cooper as HC when they were newbies. I will wait to see what they do over the next 18 months before judging this group.

What I do like is they will be collaborating during the process so as they say, 2 (or 4) heads are better than one.

 

[Tuna99]

Big fan of Dave Poulin. I still remember him holding down the Fort for Philly in the Cup finals vs Gretzky - Philly had no chance but their goalie was psychotic and won the MVP despite losing.


Poulin is the real deal. Big fan

 

[Cosmix]

Based on your criteria, you would have never hired Steve Yzerman as GM or Jon Cooper as HC when they were newbies. I will wait to see what they do over the next 18 months before judging this group.

What I do like is they will be collaborating during the process so as they say, 2 (or 4) heads are better than one.

But I would hire them now!

 

[lancepitlick]

You'd assume this current group will also include Alfie after the season, as I assume he doesn't want to continue in a coaching position, but is obviously respected by Staois.

Everything I have seen from Andlauer/SS thus far says competence. SS has more than enough experience in hockey to be a GM at this point. Poulin has also been around the block and by all accounts Bowness is a young up and comer. I assume there will be a few more hires here and there to round things out, Alfie among them. To me that's a decent enough group in terms of experience/credibility.

That said I have no clue what Staois' vision for this roster is or how he intends to build a hockey team. We won't be able to judge for some time as, aside from the coach getting canned, he basically hasn't done anything. He could be old school rock em sock em hockey, he could be pure analytics, I have no idea.

You can argue all day about the timing of DJ's firing, but it was always going to be imperfect given the timing involved of Andlauer taking control. Staois probably also wanted to get a good look at the players under DJ so he could evaluate their current strengths/weaknesses. It is what it is, which is a whole lot of nothing.

 

[lancepitlick]

Also it isn't like it's easy to get a veteran GM with a great and recent track record. How many guys are there out there that fit that criteria, first off? Second, how many of them are available to be hired? I'd suspect that number is nearly zero.

It isn't like Stevie Y is going to drop what he's doing to be the GM in Ottawa.

 

[Tuna99]

Based on your criteria, you would have never hired Steve Yzerman as GM or Jon Cooper as HC when they were newbies. I will wait to see what they do over the next 18 months before judging this group.

What I do like is they will be collaborating during the process so as they say, 2 (or 4) heads are better than one.

Yzerman has never won a Cup as a manager. He’s a good GM but Staois is better IMO and will have more success in the next 5 years

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

 

[Adrianopolous]

Not bad at all

 

[bert]

You are so right. It just shows how people here are so desperate to gobble up whatever this ownership does in spite of having a POHO and GM that has zero experience and we will all have to watch him learn on the job?

Did you read micklebots post? He literally proved everything the post you're quoting as 'so right' wrong. It was so predictable this is how the vocal minority would react. Who simply go against the grain for the sake of it. You backed Dorion and Melnyk for years. It's proven to be a massive fail. A little self awareness for both of you might help your perspective.

Andlauer took the team over in pre season. Has added to hockey ops with advanced analytics, he has added Matt Nichol the best in the business for fitness, health/nutrition. Added a bunch of experienced people with a real resumes and experience in the NHL. Bolstered the entire marketing department, renovated the players lounge. Added seats for players to give to family members. Completely changed the meal plans for players and upgraded the travel. He's making the organization better in every way and you're complaining. Do you think they're done adding to hockey ops? They haven't even got to an offseason yet when people are actually available.

 

[senswon]

Big fan of Dave Poulin. I still remember him holding down the Fort for Philly in the Cup finals vs Gretzky - Philly had no chance but their goalie was psychotic and won the MVP despite losing.


Poulin is the real deal. Big fan

Pelle Lindburg?

 

[bert]

Pelle Lindburg?

Ron Hextall I believe.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

They also waited too long to fire Dorion.

I blame Melnyk and Dorion for the years of non-playoff hockey, due to the low budget, poor trades and poor coaching choices made by the GM.

I think Staois is a newbie at the NHL management level. Poulin has been out of NHL management for many years and that makes me wary of him although I did like him as a media person making comments on the team. Perhaps we will get lucky with those choices for senior management. However, neither meets my criteria for "bast in class".

Best in class isn't usually available in the middle of the year as they're already filling a role elsewhere.

We can't just wait for the cream of the crop to find out in the summer that those guys may not even want to be here. Ownership still needs to fill the roles with options that are available to them, as it is better than the alternative of having one person do everything (we've tried that before and it doesn't work).

I have no opinion on whether Poulin is good or bad, but the help was needed. If the right guy comes around, Poulin is out and I'm sure he knows that his role might only be temporary to help with transitioning. At the very least, he's got a ton of knowledge about current NHL players if we're looking at retooling.

Re: Staios. I don't think he's keeping both positions long-term. I think this allows for "the right" person to join the club in either of his roles. It lets them be flexible to find either a new POHO or a new GM.

 

[Tuna99]

Pelle Lindburg?

Ron Hextall / his post game series loss after he win the Conn Smyth is still the saddest interview of all time.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

And as @Micklebot pointed out, social media fav Mathieu Darche really doesn’t have more “experience” than Ryan Bowness, so I don’t understand how he’d be any more qualified.

let’s say if the team he was associated with, had some recent playoff success…..would that perhaps bolster his “experience “?

Wasn't the 2 headed thing in reference to wanting to keep Dorion on for the remainder of his contract?

No.

 

[Tuna99]

Best in class isn't usually available in the middle of the year as they're already filling a role elsewhere.

We can't just wait for the cream of the crop to find out in the summer that those guys may not even want to be here. Ownership still needs to fill the roles with options that are available to them, as it is better than the alternative of having one person do everything (we've tried that before and it doesn't work).

I have no opinion on whether Poulin is good or bad, but the help was needed. If the right guy comes around, Poulin is out and I'm sure he knows that his role might only be temporary to help with transitioning. At the very least, he's got a ton of knowledge about current NHL players if we're looking at retooling.

Re: Staios. I don't think he's keeping both positions long-term. I think this allows for "the right" person to join the club in either of his roles. It lets them be flexible to find either a new POHO or a new GM.

Feels like Ottawa is going for a Vegas thing where Bowman will be promoted to GM in 2-3 years and Staois gives up the GM a duty and does President full time.

Depends on if Bowman gets calls to join another club on the timeline but sounds like they want Ryan to be GM one day.

Team is definitely staying local. Love it

 

[TeamRenzo]

Kevin Lowe has 6 rings, why don't we give him a call

Because he has a track record of failure in the front office.

 

[GCK]

Poulin is a fantastic hire. He has loads of experience in every aspect of the game. Very detail oriented person with experience.

 

[Tragedy]

Because he has a track record of failure in the front office.

Ah, so you are one of the people that needs people to type "/s" to indicate obvious sarcasm. I've always wanted to meet one.

 

[BankStreetParade]

Are people lapping it up or simply prepared to give them a chance?

Um look at the reaction in this thread, most people seem to be happy with this. So, yes, I suspect people are lapping this up. This is what years of lowered standards looks like, any progress seems to be an order of magnitude against what existed previously but when you compare it to the rest of the league and especially the upper echelon teams - the cream of the crop we'd like to be with - it's painfully obvious that we still have one of the smallest and least experienced front offices in the NHL.

Inexperience doesn't mean they have no chance at succeeding but you can't say you're going to be "best in class" and then do this. "Best in class" means you hired from the pool of the most talented and prominent names in your industry. After years of new guys coming in and everyone saying "but let's give them a chance to show us what they can do" I would have expected most people to react by saying "no no not this bullshit again".

 

[GCK]

Um look at the reaction in this thread, most people seem to be happy with this. So, yes, I suspect people are lapping this up. This is what years of lowered standards looks like, any progress seems to be an order of magnitude against what existed previously but when you compare it to the rest of the league and especially the upper echelon teams - the cream of the crop we'd like to be with - it's painfully obvious that we still have one of the smallest and least experienced front offices in the NHL.

Inexperience doesn't mean they have no chance at succeeding but you can't say you're going to be "best in class" and then do this. "Best in class" means you hired from the pool of the most talented and prominent names in your industry. After years of new guys coming in and everyone saying "but let's give them a chance to show us what they can do" I would have expected most people to react by saying "no no not this bullshit again".

I’m iffy on the Staios hire but every other hire has been bang on so far.

 

[Golden_Jet]

let’s say if the team he was associated with, had some recent playoff success…..would that perhaps bolster his “experience “?

Like Ryan Bowness, who got promoted to associate GM.

 

[Alf Silfversson]

I'm definitely OK seeing what Staios can do as GM and I like Ryan Bowness as a future replacement.

I'm not a fan of the Poulin hire though. His only NHL front office experience is with a terrible Toronto team that made some very questionable decisions. He's a really good media guy and seems articulate, well-spoken and reasonably intelligent but he's 65 years old and has no track of NHL success. I'm absolutely willing to see how he does but I would have preferred someone younger who has been building a more diverse resume within the league. Someone who can be here long-term.

Luckily I think Poulin will be more of a support player in this front office hierarchy though, so likely not a big deal.

 

[DueDiligence]

I'm definitely OK seeing what Staios can do as GM and I like Ryan Bowness as a future replacement.

I'm not a fan of the Poulin hire though. His only NHL front office experience is with a terrible Toronto team that made some very questionable decisions. He's a really good media guy and seems articulate, well-spoken and reasonably intelligent but he's 65 years old and has no track of NHL success. I'm absolutely willing to see how he does but I would have preferred someone younger who has been building a more diverse resume within the league. Someone who can be here long-term.

Luckily I think Poulin will be more of a support player in this front office hierarchy though, so likely not a big deal.

If only Poulin could have been hired a few years ago to mitigate some of the moves PD did. The team would be far better off.