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

[Burrowsaurus]

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

What is staios. The only thing in his resume right now is waiting too long to fire his terrible coach.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

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.

We are slowly climbing out of the pit of endless despair Dorion put us in. That is what matters most.

What is staios. The only thing in his resume right now is waiting too long to fire his terrible coach.

He has a succesful track record as exec.

He's basically a good prospect exec who just broke into the NHL.

His time with the Oilers and observing the nightmare that was a Dorion-run org will be useful.

 

[Loach]

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".

What new guys over the years? Who am I missing?

 

[Tuna99]

What is staios. The only thing in his resume right now is waiting too long to fire his terrible coach.

He’s played 1000 games, was a leader for the Oilers, has made all the right choices in Ottawa since he’s been here. Dorion lasted 20 games and DJ 30 games.

Let’s give him credit for good decisions he’s made

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

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 don't really see it that way. What's happening can be perceived as either lapping it up or just being open to it. Plenty of concern and skepticism too. At some point, even Pierre Dorion was given a chance. Maybe it's because the only other rumored candidate was Randy Lee, but I was a pretty big supporter of Dorion at the time, it was only his body of work that followed that changed my opinion.

And I guess we'll see. The biggest names aren't available to them and haven't been since they took over. I'm not convinced this is all long term either way. I'm impressed by what they were able to do with Martin and Alfie on the bench, and Poulin seems like a good addition. Staios has some experience at various levels as well. They've made some other hires and just have to keep filling in. I'm open to it, but I also accept they took over mid season and are 33 games in to a team falling on its face that was entirely built by someone else. If they will fail, they will fail, but they haven't yet.

 

[bert]

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

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No.

Bowness has a ring with Pittsburgh. So they both have pedigree. Friedman suggests that bowness is going to be an NHL GM. Seems like a guy you'd want to keep around.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

No one is standing up for Melnyk bro what’s wrong with you. We don’t want to see the same things .

McGuire was hired , a local radio darling. We knew Melnyk listened to the radio because he pretty much banned most people from appearing on the station.

Andlauer has hired two guys with regular radio spots.

Melnyk had Dorion be Mr. Everything. Andlauer comes in and says we will have a two headed monster with POHO and GM. Now we have Staios doing both roles.

Yeah yeah, they will get a break from me, I have seen enough by now. But doesn’t mean I like it, nor does it mean that someone who doesn’t share your point of view is now a radical. Childish talk guys. Be better

Not now, but it seemed like you had all the patience in the world for him years prior and now we're 33 games in to this new regime with you flying off the handle. And of course I feel like Alfie and Martin deserve a hell of a lot more respect on their names than Melnyk, so those comments razzed me a bit. Maybe I missed it, but I never witnessed this anger and emotion out of you during much more turbulent times under Melnyk, at least not directed at him and his operation that had proven itself as flawed. Maybe towards the fans.

Do you really not see a difference with these hires? Pierre Maguire was a butt end of a joke. He wanted in the industry for years and couldn't get in. He was hired purely to rock the boat with Dorion by Melnyk. The whole thing was lambasted here as ridiculous, and in hindsight, obviously it wasn't a collaborative team as is being presented now. Martin is a respected Stanley cup winning guy who appears to have come out of retirement at least somewhat reluctantly. Alfie is the organizational legend. If you want to draw comparisons from Poulin to Maguire, they may be more applicable, but again, it's not Melnyk doing the hiring, which is the important part and hence people being more open to it despite the inexperience. I thought Micklebot's points about experience were interesting too with Darche's name being the hot item, but not really any more experienced than Staios, Poulin and Bowman.

You're entitled to your opinion, but the way you shared it seemed extreme which got me going. There is definitely still work to be done, and more hirings to be made. I get it to a certain extent, they've set a big table and there's still no food on it. I guess I just still see it as cleaning up from the last group and can't imagine being upset at the new group for anything but taking too long to fire DJ.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

He’s played 1000 games, was a leader for the Oilers, has made all the right choices in Ottawa since he’s been here. Dorion lasted 20 games and DJ 30 games.

Let’s give him credit for good decisions he’s made

I haven’t seen a good decision he’s made. I see a bad decision in waiting too long to fire DJ. Dorion forced their hand.

I don’t care really how many games he’s played that doesn’t help the Ottawa senators win right now.

We will see how it goes.

We are slowly climbing out of the pit of endless despair Dorion put is in. That is what matters most.


He has a succesful track record as exec.

He's basically a good prospect exec who just broke into the NHL.

His time with the Oilers and observing the nightmare that was a Dorion-run org will be useful.

I understand. But personally I’m sick of prospects. Playing or otherwise.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I understand. But personally I’m sick of prospects. Playing or otherwise.

That's a you problem though.

We aren't going to be able to attract top management talent for a while, not with how of much of a mess Dorion left.

Staios has worked his way up to where he finds himself. Let's give him a shot.

 

[TeamRenzo]

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.

Well, there is a reason why we have emojis...

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Like Ryan Bowness, who got promoted to associate GM.

Are you Suggesting Darche and Bowness have equal playoff success, as management, on their respective resumes?

 

[coladin]

Not now, but it seemed like you had all the patience in the world for him years prior and now we're 33 games in to this new regime with you flying off the handle. And of course I feel like Alfie and Martin deserve a hell of a lot more respect on their names than Melnyk, so those comments razzed me a bit. Maybe I missed it, but I never witnessed this anger and emotion out of you during much more turbulent times under Melnyk, at least not directed at him and his operation that had proven itself as flawed. Maybe towards the fans.

Do you really not see a difference with these hires? Pierre Maguire was a butt end of a joke. He wanted in the industry for years and couldn't get in. He was hired purely to rock the boat with Dorion by Melnyk. The whole thing was lambasted here as ridiculous, and in hindsight, obviously it wasn't a collaborative team as is being presented now. Martin is a respected Stanley cup winning guy who appears to have come out of retirement at least somewhat reluctantly. Alfie is the organizational legend. If you want to draw comparisons from Poulin to Maguire, they may be more applicable, but again, it's not Melnyk doing the hiring, which is the important part and hence people being more open to it despite the inexperience. I thought Micklebot's points about experience were interesting too with Darche's name being the hot item, but not really any more experienced than Staios, Poulin and Bowman.

You're entitled to your opinion, but the way you shared it seemed extreme which got me going. There is definitely still work to be done, and more hirings to be made. I get it to a certain extent, they've set a big table and there's still no food on it. I guess I just still see it as cleaning up from the last group and can't imagine being upset at the new group for anything but taking too long to fire DJ.

Fair enough. I appreciate your measured response, which is sorely lacking around here. I guess everyone has their breaking point and I guess returning back to 2017-2018 is getting to me. I have never left early, so often, from a Sens game since that season.

Fans have really stepped up and embraced this team again, and as I predicted back in the day, that this team had to survive a few lean years until Gen Z had money, and they are the fans who are really driving the bus now. Great to see.

I don't want to repeat myself as to why I don't like the hires, but I loved listening to Poulin, a great hockey guy. I do remember his last go around in Toronto, he got roasted for it and hasn't worked in ten years.

Martin is interim, as is Alfie. I can't help feeling that he may be right for this moment, but is completely unrelatable to his players. The guy is 71. I don't like Tim and Brady's body language and their play has not improved whatsoever.

Love Alfie, but I dread him being behind the bench, and I dread that he becomes a fulltime coach. He is not St. Louis. He is our legend, and I don't want him fired. If Staios keeps him on, it is basically the worst decision anyone could ask for. Alfie needs to be involved with this organization , and essentially safe from termination.

I am not a fan of Staios at the moment because I expected someone with experience at the helm, and I don't care about other franchises and what they do. This is as critical a juncture for the club as there ever has been. They have over $40M tied up in this core, and we can't have rookie mistakes, rookie decisions that royally f*** this up. I didn't want him to be GM, and if his intention all along was to be GM, his first major screw up was not p[ulling the trigger on DJ before or after Sweden.

I always have time for owners and such because I can relate to their point of view better than the players. I am a business owner. I didn't mind Dorion, and appreciated his long term deals. His trades have been mixed, for sure. But I always knew his hands were tied by Melnyk, whose hands were tied with meagre revenues. With Andlauer, he has different pressures, and I think he is the right owner for this team, full stop. But I am not happy with what I have seen up to now

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Bowness has a ring with Pittsburgh. So they both have pedigree. Friedman suggests that bowness is going to be an NHL GM. Seems like a guy you'd want to keep around.

pretty sure Darche has had some playoff success with Tampa

 

[Ghost of Jody Hull]

Fair enough. I appreciate your measured response, which is sorely lacking around here. I guess everyone has their breaking point and I guess returning back to 2017-2018 is getting to me. I have never left early, so often, from a Sens game since that season.

Fans have really stepped up and embraced this team again, and as I predicted back in the day, that this team had to survive a few lean years until Gen Z had money, and they are the fans who are really driving the bus now. Great to see.

I don't want to repeat myself as to why I don't like the hires, but I loved listening to Poulin, a great hockey guy. I do remember his last go around in Toronto, he got roasted for it and hasn't worked in ten years.

Martin is interim, as is Alfie. I can't help feeling that he may be right for this moment, but is completely unrelatable to his players. The guy is 71. I don't like Tim and Brady's body language and their play has not improved whatsoever.

Love Alfie, but I dread him being behind the bench, and I dread that he becomes a fulltime coach. He is not St. Louis. He is our legend, and I don't want him fired. If Staios keeps him on, it is basically the worst decision anyone could ask for. Alfie needs to be involved with this organization , and essentially safe from termination.

I am not a fan of Staios at the moment because I expected someone with experience at the helm, and I don't care about other franchises and what they do. This is as critical a juncture for the club as there ever has been. They have over $40M tied up in this core, and we can't have rookie mistakes, rookie decisions that royally f*** this up. I didn't want him to be GM, and if his intention all along was to be GM, his first major screw up was not p[ulling the trigger on DJ before or after Sweden.

I always have time for owners and such because I can relate to their point of view better than the players. I am a business owner. I didn't mind Dorion, and appreciated his long term deals. His trades have been mixed, for sure. But I always knew his hands were tied by Melnyk, whose hands were tied with meagre revenues. With Andlauer, he has different pressures, and I think he is the right owner for this team, full stop. But I am not happy with what I have seen up to now

I think you (along with many fans) had different expectations and a higher sense of urgency compared to Andlauer and Staios.

Fans came into this season thinking "playoffs or bust".

Ownership and management came into this season thinking "we're pretty far away, let's figure out who stays and who goes".

We're not going to be rebuilding the rebuild, but we're going to be retooling the rebuild.

And that work will start in June. So as much as it sucks for fans, ownership was prepared to, essentially, throw this season away. The moves made so far have been forced to mitigate some of the toxicity and negativity around the team, but they're just trying to get to the draft.

As shitty as it is, fans will have to stop looking through Dorion's "we're on the cusp of greatness" lens and reset the clock.

pretty sure Darche has had some playoff success with Tampa

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[coladin]

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.

Did you read mine?

Yeah, Staios has experience, but not in the TWO roles he has now.

Yeah, Poulin has experience, I have acknowledged that, but he was not good in Toronto and hasn't had a job in ten years in the NHL.

Best in Class? Anyways, I have already addressed this ad nauseum and repeating myself because I will not agree with you.

And your whole schtick of me being a contrarian just continues to expose how you cannot stick to making points because you get riled up and start with the name calling and blah blah blah. Dude whatever, grow up a bit. I don't so anything "for the sake of it". If you think my whole schtick is because I have a hard on for Melnyk and Dorion, you aree the one who needs perspective

 

[UglyPuckling]

As we all should, but it was being brought up. If we're judging the today it's still relevant more so than the new group in place now. I knew those types of posts trying to compare this operation to Melnyk's would come out because of the sour grapes, and probably too soon because they took it so hard on the chin for so long, but I never thought it would be this premature. These guys need to be given a chance. To see someone go so off the rails with it already that stood up for Melnyk & Co. for so many years is obviously just them trying to dump on these guys at the first opportunity.

People are anxious, I get that, I would even say they were too slow to fire DJ, but it's way too soon and those comparisons to Melnyk are absurd and nonsensical. They literally just took over and have no sample size to judge them with. If someone is already drawing radical conclusions and ranting about it, it's basically impossible to be anything but their own bias, considering the sample size and circumstances. If it fails under these guys, it will fail, but it sure as shit hasn't yet. The fingers should still be getting pointed at the previous regime. The same regime that 99% of this board knew were mostly out to lunch the whole damn time.

Yes, I agree with that. It's too early to make judgements. This is still pretty much the team Dorion built.

I suppose waiting until Thanksgiving next year might be appropriate. Maybe by then we will have had enough time and info to evaluate.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Are you Suggesting Darche and Bowness have equal playoff success, as management, on their respective resumes?

Yes, Bowness won 2 cups in Pittsburg, spent 7 years there and 7 in Winnipeg.
They’ve both ran hockey ops.
No idea why you keep saying that, when everyone already knew, without looking it up.

 

[HSF]

I like the Poulin move. We discussed it previous here as a good potential pickup

Not sure how i feel about a rookie GM/ rookie POHO. Would have liked some experience. I am willing to wait and see though as I like the direction they are going with hiring more help

I think they took too long to fire DJ if they planned on having this pairing as the top dogs

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

In this thread:
A: I am upset, I want Darche
B: Darche isn't available, don't know if he wants to come
A: let's wait for Darche
B: we have Bowness
A: we need someone with more experience, like Darche
B: Bowness has similar experience
A: we need someone with previous success, like Darche
B: Bowness had success with this Pittsburgh
A: I am upset, I want Darche

 

[Tuna99]

I haven’t seen a good decision he’s made. I see a bad decision in waiting too long to fire DJ. Dorion forced their hand.

I don’t care really how many games he’s played that doesn’t help the Ottawa senators win right now.

We will see how it goes.


I understand. But personally I’m sick of prospects. Playing or otherwise.

I feel one of the big downfalls of Dorion/DJ/Capuano/Bowmess was they had no NHL playing expericne - now we have Staois, Alfie, Poulin who all have tons of experience. Asset for sure and essential for success in todays game to have people who played a lot of hockey as your think tank

Alfie / Staois / Poulin has about 3000 NHK games played

DJ Smith / Dorion / Payne had about 50 NHL games played

 

[coladin]

I think you (along with many fans) had different expectations and a higher sense of urgency compared to Andlauer and Staios.

Fans came into this season thinking "playoffs or bust".

Ownership and management came into this season thinking "we're pretty far away, let's figure out who stays and who goes".

We're not going to be rebuilding the rebuild, but we're going to be retooling the rebuild.

And that work will start in June. So as much as it sucks for fans, ownership was prepared to, essentially, throw this season away. The moves made so far have been forced to mitigate some of the toxicity and negativity around the team, but they're just trying to get to the draft.



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I honestly wasn't of the mind of playoffs this year. I didn't think they would get in unless things went perfectly , stayed healthy, and Korpisalo could play.

I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I didn't envision, not even for a second, that this was a lottery team. We are and will be a lottery team this year. I have seen too much. So, this could be like Colorado getting Makar, or Jersey getting the Hughes brothers, my mind is slowly accepting that, although the money sepnt this year bugs me

 

[Masked]

The whole hockey operation for the team clearly needs to be assessed after Dorion. You need people in place for the assessment and to plan what to do after the assessment. There are not a lot of options for people you can hire during the season.

Poulin might not have a big say in roster decisions. He might just be there to help assess things like scouting and to have connections to find the right people to join hockey ops. He's clearly a connected guy who has been around hockey for a long time in many roles.

Because right now, who is running the next draft for the team? There's no Trent Mann around any more or even someone close to his experience in running a draft.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I honestly wasn't of the mind of playoffs this year. ………………………. although the money sepnt this year bugs me

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

I see a bunch of highly professional and diversely experienced group of individuals who will work together for a common goal when I look at our staff now.

Martin, Alfredsson, Staios, Bowness, Poulin

that is a great list of respected and accomplished individuals with a solid balance of young and old.

what is there to hate lol.

especially coming from Dorion days of non professionalism and emotional insecurity.

 

[Ghost of Jody Hull]

I honestly wasn't of the mind of playoffs this year. I didn't think they would get in unless things went perfectly , stayed healthy, and Korpisalo could play.

I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I didn't envision, not even for a second, that this was a lottery team. We are and will be a lottery team this year. I have seen too much. So, this could be like Colorado getting Makar, or Jersey getting the Hughes brothers, my mind is slowly accepting that, although the money sepnt this year bugs me

The injuries to Chabot, and the suspension to Pinto, haven't helped, but I think the fans really overestimated how good this team was, or could be.

I don't think Andlauer or Staios saw it the same way. If you look at their comments from early on, they never projected all that much optimism. Instead, they downplayed immediate expectations at every turn.

So here we are. They were forced to make some immediate PR-driven changes, but the real work will start in the summer.

I don't expect JM and Alfredsson to be coaches next year. I think they've been tasked with laying down some sort of foundation and giving Staios/Bowness/Poulin advice on which pieces to keep.

I also expect additional front-office hires to be made before the summer. We'll probably see another assistant GM (to focus on cap/contracts) along with additions to scouting.

Poulin, specifically, has a ton of expertise and connections to the NCAA and development programs. I'd expect one of his first tasks will be to beef up the amateur scouting side of the front office.