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

[aragorn]

Picking this yr & pushing the decision to give the 1st OA back to the NHL to the last yr it is required gives the Sens the opportunity to make their case to the NHL to keep that pick as New Jersey did given the incident happened under other management. Giving it up early for no good reason when it might not be necessary to do makes no sense to just throw a first away when there is a possibility to get it back.

 

[branch]

Picking this yr & pushing the decision to give the 1st OA back to the NHL to the last yr it is required gives the Sens the opportunity to make their case to the NHL to keep that pick as New Jersey did given the incident happened under other management. Giving it up early for no good reason when it might not be necessary to do makes no sense to just throw a first away when there is a possibility to get it back.

I'm basing my opinion off the info that is available to us right now

 

[Icelevel]

Picking this yr & pushing the decision to give the 1st OA back to the NHL to the last yr it is required gives the Sens the opportunity to make their case to the NHL to keep that pick as New Jersey did given the incident happened under other management. Giving it up early for no good reason when it might not be necessary to do makes no sense to just throw a first away when there is a possibility to get it back.

Exactly. There really is no decision to make here.

 

[Tuna99]

there's certainly risk with Elliasson, but I think he is very much the type of prospect you need to take a wait and see approach with.

Bigger guys always take a bit longer to come into their own,
D always take a bit longer to come into their own, and
He was the youngest(?) player in the draft

He could bust, or he could be a unicorn, time will tell I guess.

Not to compare him, but his mean streak sounds like a Bryan Marchment type attitude wise, like people will be getting intentionally hurt when Ellsiason is on tje ice - worth waiting for and worth the gamble IMO

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

 

[Senscore]

Uhhhh did not expect that at all. Seemed like Ryan was a rising star with the org.

 

[Emerica]

Yeah i thought he was going to be named GM at some point.

Matt Turek time?

 

[milkbag]

Could be keeping this year's first with no intention of using it, but using it as a trade chip to upgrade the top 6 or 4. Only logical conclusion seeing as how making the playoffs next year isn't guaranteed and the draft then is supposedly deeper

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I’m guessing now mess wanted to be GM sooner rather than later

 

[DrEasy]

Uhhhh did not expect that at all. Seemed like Ryan was a rising star with the org.

They didn't hire him, and it seems like they prefer people they had connections with before.

The Front Office just got even thinner...

 

[DrEasy]

I’m guessing now mess wanted to be GM sooner rather than later

"now mess" seemed to do a good job with Belleville; he may be deserving of a GM job.

 

[Senscore]

They didn't hire him, and it seems like they prefer people they had connections with before.

The Front Office just got even thinner...

Somehow gone from the team before our head scout.

 

[PlayOn]

Surprised since Staios said they had a great internal candidate in Bowness to mold as the next GM and gave him a promotion last season.

Maybe something changed. But also to those worried about Staios saying we have good scouts - it’s clear by now we should take everything he says with a grain of salt anyway.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Somehow gone from the team before our head scout.

Maybe he’s the guy who loved nordberg Elliasson and roger and he’s lobbied the scouts

 

[Senscore]

Maybe he’s the guy who loved nordberg Elliasson and roger and he’s lobbied the scouts

I mean anything's possible but the attraction to big body high-PIMs guys feels like more old school dinosaur thinking

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Interesting. They seemed to really like him initially maybe some redundancy with the Dimaio hire and the path forward for him was not what he wanted.

This is Graeme Nichols article from last May

Senators Hire Rob DiMaio as Director of Player Personnel

Rob DiMaio raised a few eyebrows around the hockey world when he left his post as the assistant general manager of the Anaheim Ducks just seven days ago.

gnichols.substack.com

I suppose the role could be portrayed as somewhat downgraded career mobility for DiMaio, but the Senators have waxed poetic about associate general manager Ryan Bowness’ future. They have all but assured that he’s their general manager in waiting.

Bowness has been the general manager of the Belleville Senators, so the Senators could eventually rely on DiMaio to take on those added responsibilities. DiMaio spent two seasons with the Ducks and served as GM of the San Diego Gulls, Anaheim's AHL affiliate.

 

[DrEasy]

Surprised since Staios said they had a great internal candidate in Bowness to mold as the next GM and gave him a promotion last season.

Maybe something changed. But also to those worried about Staios saying we have good scouts - it’s clear by now we should take everything he says with a grain of salt anyway.

The fact that he's kept his scouts this long tells us all we need to know.

 

[PlayOn]

The fact that he's kept his scouts this long tells us all we need to know.

I don’t believe for a second that Don Boyd is Staios’ long-term answer. Age alone would suggest otherwise.

Eventually I expect we will see a change, and that he’ll let the new chief scout determine any additional staff changes. He also might not feel it’s as bad as people on here do, because there is a ton of hyperbole in the way people talk about our scouting staff, but I think objectively it is clear they’re not “best in class”. So I don’t think no moves being made yet is an indication that Staios thinks there is no room for improvement.

 

[bert]

Yeah it’s interesting. Staios basically said there are a few things that would need to happen but they’d like to keep their goaltending depth.

Wonder if they want him but only on a league minimum contract or something.

Only scenario I can see happening but I dont think he signs something like that. I think he gets a deal from someone to be the back up. Problem with Forsberg is he just isnt a good back up, he is too streaky. He is either a world beater or a sieve. There just doesnt appear to be anything in between. From a back up you wanna know what you are going to get night in night out. Doesnt mean they have to be a star but they do need to make the majority of the saveables.

It's nothing like Edmonton drafting McDavid, who was a Crosby or Lebron-esque slam dunk to go in a specific draft slot.

While the final McKenzie consensus list did have Tkachuk at 3, it certainly wasn't a slam dunk, as draft rankings across sources had him anywhere from 3-9. You yourself had him at 9... (see below).

And Montreal didn't, in fact, take him at #3, after all!

I just uncovered this "search by poster" feature, so let's see what you were saying about that specific draft:







And then on Sanderson...





Perhaps we can wait and see on Yakemchuk and not talk with such certainty that he's a bad pick...

Well done on this...

He wont learn from this that's for sure as we have seen in the past. I dont know how anyone that watched Yakemchuk cant see the massive upside. Not to mention the long long long long list of examples of big players having longer development paths. Even if they have happened in the past on the sens or are currently happening right in from of them in Kleven. Some just choose to ignore it.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

It might be a scenario where other teams are gearing up to offer him a GM spot, Staios isn't ready to hand off the role to a different person, and since they are going to lose him anyways it makes sense to mutually part ways to allow them to fill the role earlier in the offseason.

 

[PlayOn]

The expectation is that Rob DiMaio, brought in by Staios before the start of the 2024-25 campaign, will be elevated from his role as director of player personnel to assistant GM.

Ottawa Senators part ways with associate GM Ryan Bowness

Off-season changes begin for Ottawa Senators

ottawacitizen.com

 

[DrEasy]

I don’t believe for a second that Don Boyd is Staios’ long-term answer. Age alone would suggest otherwise.

Eventually I expect we will see a change, and that he’ll let the new chief scout determine any additional staff changes. He also might not feel it’s as bad as people on here do, because there is a ton of hyperbole in the way people talk about our scouting staff, but I think objectively it is clear they’re not “best in class”. So I don’t think no moves being made yet is an indication that Staios thinks there is no room for improvement.

Going to two drafts with the incumbent head scout seems long-term enough to me.

 

[aragorn]

I don’t believe for a second that Don Boyd is Staios’ long-term answer. Age alone would suggest otherwise.

Eventually I expect we will see a change, and that he’ll let the new chief scout determine any additional staff changes. He also might not feel it’s as bad as people on here do, because there is a ton of hyperbole in the way people talk about our scouting staff, but I think objectively it is clear they’re not “best in class”. So I don’t think no moves being made yet is an indication that Staios thinks there is no room for improvement.

Timing - he either likes what he hears from the scouting staff & Head scout or he doesn't & eventually will make a change. He has been here for one draft & the scouts took Yakemchuk RD, it was pretty much a given they wanted a defenceman & they needed a RD at the time & I doubt they wanted a small D player especially for future playoffs.

Only scenario I can see happening but I dont think he signs something like that. I think he gets a deal from someone to be the back up. Problem with Forsberg is he just isnt a good back up, he is too streaky. He is either a world beater or a sieve. There just doesnt appear to be anything in between. From a back up you wanna know what you are going to get night in night out. Doesnt mean they have to be a star but they do need to make the majority of the saveables.

Well done on this...

He wont learn from this that's for sure as we have seen in the past. I dont know how anyone that watched Yakemchuk cant see the massive upside. Not to mention the long long long long list of examples of big players having longer development paths. Even if they have happened in the past on the sens or are currently happening right in from of them in Kleven. Some just choose to ignore it.

Good post. I expect they could sign a UFA vet goalie on a 2-way that they can call up if Ullmark has another on & off season with injuries. I think Yakemchuk is much closer than most on here & I would not be surprised if Jensen is traded at some point given his age & injury history.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

Someone on Twitter (a random fan) came up with the theory that maybe this relates to getting our pick back, since Bowness is the last remaining from that previous regime - but I doubt that's the case.

It doesn't make sense to hold him hostage if he has risen as high as he can here, and there are other teams who are willing to either consider him for a GM role, or hire him with the intention of promoting him to that role. I could be wrong, but I suspect that is all this is.

 

[Bileur]

Hopefully whoever takes over can get Belleville over the hump. It’s a tough division but at some point Belleville needs to have their turn for the depth to develop.