Jared Crozier: What Does (Should) The Future For Bryan Murray?

Jared Crozier: What Does (Should) The Future For Bryan Murray?
- JaredCrozier

Huh? Engrish prease.

Good blog.

I think it's time for Murray to step down. Like any GM, some moves have worked and some moves haven't.

Bishop vs Turris for example.

However right now It appears that this is a team stuck in neutral. As stated in the blog there are a few promising players, but they are unlikely to be impact players in the near future. I'm not even sure they'd be a playoff team had they not of had their injuries.


I think we need to see a new GM to get a fresh perspective on things.

Huh? Engrish prease.
-Iggysbff

What don't (doesn't) are you getting?

I don't understand this philosophy that people think Murray has "earned" the right to stay on? why? Because he's old? Because he "deserves" the chance to win a Cup because he's been at it for so long and never won - doesn't make sense to me.

Winning hasn't been Ottawa's main objective for many years and that is obvious - since Murray has taken over every year there seems to be some type of circus going on - Emery, Heatley, Soezza, Alfie, the coaching carousel. Missed playoffs.

I think Murray's biggest problem is he has oversold every aspect of the organization - we are supposed to be a playoff team every year, every coach he hires is the next great thing (remember he hire Babcock so he must be a genius) his drafting record which is average over 9 years (he drafted Perry and Getzlaf so he must be a genius)

there has been one consistent thing since this team has turned into a gong show after the finals and that's Murray and the constant circus. Time for a change.

If Murray was from Minnesota, was 45 years old he would of been fired 5 years ago. There's this weird loyalty to Murray that I don't understand, he doesn't win, that should be our only loyalty as fans.

Huh? Engrish prease.
-Iggysbff


What don't (doesn't) are you getting?
- stowerkraut

been a rough couple of days eh Jared ..... don't worry buddy, we still luv ya

As for the GM job ..... if BM steps aside, which I expect he will, I would think a fresh face would be best. I would be afraid that Dorion and Lee are too close to the prospects and run the risk of over-valuing them (kinda like Murray did).

That said, I think they will hire from within

I don't understand this philosophy that people think Murray has "earned" the right to stay on? why? Because he's old? Because he "deserves" the chance to win a Cup because he's been at it for so long and never won - doesn't make sense to me.

Winning hasn't been Ottawa's main objective for many years and that is obvious - since Murray has taken over every year there seems to be some type of circus going on - Emery, Heatley, Soezza, Alfie, the coaching carousel. Missed playoffs.

I think Murray's biggest problem is he has oversold every aspect of the organization - we are supposed to be a playoff team every year, every coach he hires is the next great thing (remember he hire Babcock so he must be a genius) his drafting record which is average over 9 years (he drafted Perry and Getzlaf so he must be a genius)

there has been one consistent thing since this team has turned into a gong show after the finals and that's Murray and the constant circus. Time for a change.

If Murray was from Minnesota, was 45 years old he would of been fired 5 years ago. There's this weird loyalty to Murray that I don't understand, he doesn't win, that should be our only loyalty as fans.
- tuna99

mind yerself young feller......

mind yerself young feller......

- SensnRBs

Melnyk's going to launch a forensic investigation against me and crash my website?

Remember when Melnyk had a press conference to speak about Travis Yost - talk about thin skinned.

Only way this team can improve is to get an outside guy to run things. Promoting guys underneath Murray now would change squat. I don't think Murray has done the worst job in the world, but right now, the management and ownership team is running this team like a bunch of fans. They aren't looking objectively at this roster and identifying what needs to change. People crap on Mucklar for emptying our prospect cupboard, but he recognized what this team needed to do in order to be competitive. It almost worked.

Bring in a guy who has observed all 30 teams the last couple of seasons. You'll likely see changes right off the bat. Enough of trying to keep Chaisson on to make the Spezza deal look better. Enough trying to sign Neil and Phillips to "good guy" contracts because they are life long Senators. Make the hard decisions. Try to get better instead of looking good.

Only way this team can improve is to get an outside guy to run things. Promoting guys underneath Murray now would change squat. I don't think Murray has done the worst job in the world, but right now, the management and ownership team is running this team like a bunch of fans. They aren't looking objectively at this roster and identifying what needs to change. People crap on Mucklar for emptying our prospect cupboard, but he recognized what this team needed to do in order to be competitive. It almost worked.

Bring in a guy who has observed all 30 teams the last couple of seasons. You'll likely see changes right off the bat. Enough of trying to keep Chaisson on to make the Spezza deal look better. Enough trying to sign Neil and Phillips to "good guy" contracts because they are life long Senators. Make the hard decisions. Try to get better instead of looking good.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

So, Pierre Mcguire?

Excellent blog.
Really good insight and a very interesting read.

I think Murray has done an OK job as GM. Unfortunately, he will always be linked to the departures of Heatley, Spezza, and Alfie. The 3 best Senators ever to play (Karlsson soon to be number 3 at least). We essentially got Michalek and Paul for that bunch. That's a pretty big black eye.

I do sort of sympathize. Those guys all wanted out of Ottawa, puts you behind the 8 ball. There were also a cleaning of house shortly after the Cup run with guys who were getting into trouble with "extra curricular activities" which he would not condone. Not to mention an owner who needs a muzzle. He hasn't been given the cleanest deck of cards to work with.

Time to move on. Stay on as an advisor, but bring in an outside guy to start a new era.

So, Pierre Mcguire?
- david22

Can you imagine him and Eugene at a press conference? Just need the Spezza laugh to make it a complete gong show.

I don't like to speculate. I'm not sure how many decisions are being made with budget in mind, and how many are made with making the best team possible. So I'm still bitter about Alfie, and Spezza. Leave me alone!

I need to talk about something else, so I decided to go back to my predictions from near the start of the year:
At the time, this was the pace the sens were putting up:
Karlsson- 19-71-90
Ryan- 30-45-75
Hoffman- 35-48-83 (79gp)
Turris- 41-30-71
Stone- 16-60-76 (80gp)
Zibanejad- 15-45-60
Pageau- 22-11-33
Michalek- 19-11-30
Smith- 19-8-27 (81gp)
Prince- 11-22-33 (73gp)
Lazar- 8-12-20 (79gp)
Ceci- 8-12-20 (81gp)
Chiasson- 7-7-14
Neil- 4-7-11
Cowen- 0-13-13 (79gp)
Wideman- 19-0-19 (71gp)
Wiercioch- 0-13-13 (78gp)
Methot- 4-8-12 (79gp)
Borowiecki- 0-4-4

and my predictions:

Karlsson- 19-61-80 - Continue to produce, but not over ppg
Ryan- 25-40-65 - Will hit a slump but come out with a decent season
Hoffman- 32-34-66 - Goals continue. Assists drop off. Relied upon to shoot
Turris- 30-40-70 - 40goals is lofty. More assists as goals come tougher.
Stone- 19-52-71 - 60 assists from 2nd line? No, but it could come close.
Zibanejad- 21-29-50 - Starts to score more, so won't be in on as many assists
Pageau- 14-19-33 - not 22 goals but assists will add up
Smith- 11-15-26 - 19 goals won't happen, but he'll set up some
Lazar- 12-15-27 - scoring touch will come round a bit.
Ceci- 7-15-23 - may not get big goals, but enough for his role
Chiasson- 9-11-20 - improvement as he becomes comfortable with his role
Neil- 2-5-7 - not on the ice enough to play for points
Wideman- 9-10-19 - 19 goals aren't happening. 9 could.
Wiercioch- 3-8-11 - 3 goals. maybe all ppg
Methot- 3-13-16 - more stay at home, but gets a few from top pairing role
Borowiecki- 0-3-3 - not on the team for points

Where things stand:

Karlsson - 14-62-76 - I was pretty close. He could still hit 80. 19 goals unlikely.
Ryan - 22-31-53 - I hoped for more from Ryan. 55 seems likely. Not terrible. Not great either.
Hoffman - 27-27-54 - 83 wasn't happening. 66 seemed possible. mid season slump lasted a long while. Probably around 58. Again, not bad, but not great.
Turris - 13-17-30 - Turris went down almost right after my prediction.
Stone - 23-37-60 - 71 not in cards, but a strong finish could leave him close.
Zibanejad - 18-29-47 - 3 more goals in final stretch could leave me bang on here.
Pageau - 17-20-37 - I underestimated Pageau. Didn't expect him to be forced up in line up though. He could hit 40pts.
Smith - 21-11-32 - I underestimated Smith, but didn't expect him to be with Stone...
Lazar - 6-14-20 - And I thought 27 may have been low. Lazar 4C *SIGH*
Ceci - 8-13-21 - I was pretty close for Ceci.
Chiasson - 7-6-13 - No improvement despite being elevated in lineup ( unfairly )
Neil - 4-7-11 - Slightly better than I anticipated.
Wideman - 6-5-11 - It's like he was held out of the line up for a 1/4 of the season...for little reason.
Wiercioch - 0-5-5 - Injuries played a role, but still disappointing.
Methot - 5-7-12 - I was pretty close, but a bit optimistic here was well.
Boroiecki - 1-1-2 - Close. I overestimated at 3 points.

Removed trades and guys who haven't played many games.

"I don't understand this philosophy that people think Murray has "earned" the right to stay on? why? Because he's old? Because he "deserves" the chance to win a Cup because he's been at it for so long and never won - doesn't make sense to me."

He deserves to stay on because he has done an above average job while dealing with Melnyk's meddling and bullpoop.

The reason that Murray was not thrown under the bus by Melnyk the other day is that Murray has taken a few bullets for Melnyk. I would say that the Alfredsson fiasco would be top of the list and I am sure that there are a few more dumb moves that originated with Melnyk.

"I don't understand this philosophy that people think Murray has "earned" the right to stay on? why? Because he's old? Because he "deserves" the chance to win a Cup because he's been at it for so long and never won - doesn't make sense to me."

He deserves to stay on because he has done an above average job while dealing with Melnyk's meddling and bullpoop.

The reason that Murray was not thrown under the bus by Melnyk the other day is that Murray has taken a few bullets for Melnyk. I would say that the Alfredsson fiasco would be top of the list and I am sure that there are a few more dumb moves that originated with Melnyk.
- SensFan25

One thing I do not think has gone well under Muray is he has not defended his players well at all - he actually makes it so they want to leave (Spezza, Alfie, Redden) and the coaches and players I feel do not have his support. When managenet doesn't defend it's players you see how hard it gets to gel - look at what Bob Gainey did when he came to Montreal and called out the fanbase, stuck uo for his players and especially those that were getting slayed (Brisebois) and it completely turned that franchise around.

The bottom line is the only constant the last 9 years of under-performance has been Murray - he was given a Cup finalist and totally screwed it up. Imagine if this year Tampa missed the playoffs and then went on some weird run where two of their Captains and most their stars wanted out and they underachieved, had 6 coaches and for half of that time they spent to the Cap, only won 1 round in 9 years and then got pumped in the next round.

I think with this fanbase there is sense of inevitabilty to the last 9 years that we saw in the Toronto fans under the Burke regime where they just defended every move or blamed poor moves not on him but on some theorized B.S. and I see this with Murray.

We didn't have to sign Kovalev, sign Heatley to big money if he was such an arse, make that trade for Ryan, screw up the Alfie thing, but it seems with this fanbade they can't see that the decisions that were made had no other outcome - we didn't have to trade Bishop but everyone acts like we did. We didn't have to trade Kelly or Fisher, but everyone acts like we did. I think Murray had a team of studs and great team players and has replced them with taleent, but not guys who play team first hockey - and that is why we suck.

This team has the talent and size, it doesn't haev the character and work ethic - and I think that is a much worse thing to fix. Talent is easy to get - just look at Dallas, Talent with a team first attidue is hard and Murray took the easy way out

One thing I do not think has gone well under Muray is he has not defended his players well at all - he actually makes it so they want to leave (Spezza, Alfie, Redden) and the coaches and players I feel do not have his support. When managenet doesn't defend it's players you see how hard it gets to gel - look at what Bob Gainey did when he came to Montreal and called out the fanbase, stuck uo for his players and especially those that were getting slayed (Brisebois) and it completely turned that franchise around.

The bottom line is the only constant the last 9 years of under-performance has been Murray - he was given a Cup finalist and totally screwed it up. Imagine if this year Tampa missed the playoffs and then went on some weird run where two of their Captains and most their stars wanted out and they underachieved, had 6 coaches and for half of that time they spent to the Cap, only won 1 round in 9 years and then got pumped in the next round.

I think with this fanbase there is sense of inevitabilty to the last 9 years that we saw in the Toronto fans under the Burke regime where they just defended every move or blamed poor moves not on him but on some theorized B.S. and I see this with Murray.

We didn't have to sign Kovalev, sign Heatley to big money if he was such an arse, make that trade for Ryan, screw up the Alfie thing, but it seems with this fanbade they can't see that the decisions that were made had no other outcome - we didn't have to trade Bishop but everyone acts like we did. We didn't have to trade Kelly or Fisher, but everyone acts like we did. I think Murray had a team of studs and great team players and has replced them with taleent, but not guys who play team first hockey - and that is why we suck.

This team has the talent and size, it doesn't haev the character and work ethic - and I think that is a much worse thing to fix. Talent is easy to get - just look at Dallas, Talent with a team first attidue is hard and Murray took the easy way out
- tuna99

We had the exact same team that went to the Cup final the year after and they just didn't have the same mojo. It's not like he took a top 5 team and tore them down. They fell out of being a top 5 teams and things kind of snowballed. I don't think Murray has done a great job at the helm, but he certainly has tried to do what he can do. Easy to look back in hindsight and say a move was a terrible move.

We had the exact same team that went to the Cup final the year after and they just didn't have the same mojo. It's not like he took a top 5 team and tore them down. They fell out of being a top 5 teams and things kind of snowballed. I don't think Murray has done a great job at the helm, but he certainly has tried to do what he can do. Easy to look back in hindsight and say a move was a terrible move.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

looking back on the last 9 years definetly easy to say he didn't do a good job. But as a life ling Sens fan taking it from the time of ultra discipline under J. Martin to when Murry took over things just seemed to explode.

We had leadership under Muckler and duing the Martin years - once Murray took over it seemed like things just melted down - Emery, Heatley, Spezza, Alfie all the coaching stuff.

It all starts at the top - and this is not a new athlete thing - winning teams do not have this happening to them and when it began we had a great team.

Looking at it in its entirety, he's been the only constant in the last 9 years and it seems to be a repeated pattern over and over - underachieved, a Captain or Assistant Captain wants out - we replace them with a talented but low-character player (Kovalev, Ryan) and things get worse.

He will retire, he announced it at the end of last season that this would be his last, but the media just wants a story to run with so we'll talk about it until mid April and then see who the new guy is.

We didn't have to sign Kovalev, sign Heatley to big money if he was such an arse, make that trade for Ryan, screw up the Alfie thing, but it seems with this fanbade they can't see that the decisions that were made had no other outcome - we didn't have to trade Bishop but everyone acts like we did. We didn't have to trade Kelly or Fisher, but everyone acts like we did. I think Murray had a team of studs and great team players and has replced them with taleent, but not guys who play team first hockey - and that is why we suck.

- tuna99

Kovalev - worse free agent signings have been made. There was demand from fans for such a move.
Heatley - I believe that Heatley became an arse after the contract signing. Murray would have been lynched if he let him go.
Ryan - Knee jerk reaction to the Alfie fiasco. Response to female doging and moaning from fan base. Needed to sell tickets. I personally didn't like the move but there have been worse moves made.
Kelly / Fisher - Perfectly fine with these moves.
Bishop - very bad move
signing Jason Smith to 2 year deal - Most of the free agent signings have not worked out well from a value perspective but this is true of most teams. That is why draft/develop is crucial.
Spezza trade - didn't get good value. Did he have the budget to sign him? Personally, I was very tired of hearing all the fans female doging about Spezza and the behind the back pass. Spezza's contract for Dallas - not the best value.

My 2 biggest issues with Murray is that he has rushed too many players into the league (Cowen, Ceci, Lazar) and the free agent signings.

Most teams have bad signings. Take Detroit's contracts for Jimmy Howard and Stephen Weiss.
The team had drafted poorly in the years before Murray became GM and had no cheap, up and coming talent.

Personally, i would rate BM as a B- overall.

looking back on the last 9 years definetly easy to say he didn't do a good job. But as a life ling Sens fan taking it from the time of ultra discipline under J. Martin to when Murry took over things just seemed to explode.

We had leadership under Muckler and duing the Martin years - once Murray took over it seemed like things just melted down - Emery, Heatley, Spezza, Alfie all the coaching stuff.

It all starts at the top - and this is not a new athlete thing - winning teams do not have this happening to them and when it began we had a great team.

Looking at it in its entirety, he's been the only constant in the last 9 years and it seems to be a repeated pattern over and over - underachieved, a Captain or Assistant Captain wants out - we replace them with a talented but low-character player (Kovalev, Ryan) and things get worse.

He will retire, he announced it at the end of last season that this would be his last, but the media just wants a story to run with so we'll talk about it until mid April and then see who the new guy is.
- tuna99

I agree that he has never replaced the calibre of players that he lost. That's the main thing I'm frustrated with. It's a lot different replacing Alfie with Ryan or Heatley with Michelek/Kovalev then say Condra with Chaisson. You win with your top players. We haven't had a top forward player for awhile.

I don't think Murray is to blame for the Heatley stuff. There was other stuff going on there. Demanded a trade and hands were tied.

Melnyk is the one to blame for Alfie.

The Spezza situation Murray could be responsible. I think management and fans made the decision to throw him under the bus and preach "the 200 foot game" model, which hilariously, is worse than it was when Spezza was here.

I don't think you can blame the season after the Cup final run on Murray. It was a team that reached the end of their line. They also had some behavioural issues that are pretty well documented if you know the right (wrong) people in Ottawa. Murray wasn't going to have that and made sure certain guys were gone. Probably rustled a few feathers in the process.

I think it's way more complicated than simply throwing the blame on Murray. I think he should shoulder some of it, but so should the other members of management, ownership, and even the players.

We are in a decent position right now. There's no need to start from scratch. Having a guy who knows where the Sens sit amongst the 29 other NHL teams will go a long way.

Bryan Murray is still Melnyks man for now. I hope BM has a good draft this summer, it could very well be his last.


I like the first 4 picked last summer (2015)

18th 1 Round Thomas Chabot D
21st 1 Round Colin White C
36th 2 Round Gabriel Gagne RW
48th 2 Round Filip Chlapik C

Murray is a few things - 1. Good coach 2. Phenom on the draft floor ( I think we all though Cowen you pan out) and 3. Stanch supporter of the club.

He is not 1. A good GM 2. Someone with the spine to stand up the the owner 3. A good Liar.

Obviously he has done a lot of good for the club, he's done a lot of bad too so the questions is does it all balance out? I'd say not. Too many of his trade moves just crippled us in many ways that got us where we are. Is it all his fault? By no means. I'd say the guy has earned my respect just from having to babysit such a jack hole as is our team owner. It must have been like minding a toddler with a few million dollars. You all know that Eugene was behind a lot of BS that Murray had to deal with, I'll be he was pulling a lot of the strings behind both some trades and some drafts. It's hard when the guy who pays your cheque stomps his feet and whines like a baby to get what he wants. What was he going to to? Tell Eugene to mind his business and let him run the team like he's paid to do? I don't think even I'd have the balls to do that. So in truth the deck was stacked against him a bit but he did make his job a lot harder than it needed to be. What really gets me the worst about good 'ol BM was how hard he tried to sell the fan base a burning pile of garbage and tell us it's a Cadillac. He really got his media lines down to an art form. The smile, the sort of endearing small town lispy accent and the ever so stoic face that he thought would assure us he knew what he was doing. While I will commend Eugene's interest in promoting within to reward loyalty I think that has been more an undoing than anything. Now we have a bunch of stale bread on the shelf and it's time to clean house. Get some bodies in that won't just be yes men and kowtow to the owner. I'm not sure how you do that when we all know that Eugene will want to make sure whoever comes in will be that exact person.

A bit of a rock and a hard place if you ask me.

Murray is a few things - 1. Good coach 2. Phenom on the draft floor (Lee was a total brain fart, we all have them, let's let that one slide for now) and 3. Stanch supporter of the club.

He is not 1. A good GM 2. Someone with the spine to stand up the the owner 3. A good Liar.

Obviously he has done a lot of good for the club, he's done a lot of bad too so the questions is does it all balance out? I'd say not. Too many of his trade moves just crippled us in many ways that got us where we are. Is it all his fault? By no means. I'd say the guy has earned my respect just from having to babysit such a jack hole as is our team owner. It must have been like minding a toddler with a few million dollars. You all know that Eugene was behind a lot of BS that Murray had to deal with, I'll be he was pulling a lot of the strings behind both some trades and some drafts. It's hard when the guy who pays your cheque stomps his feet and whines like a baby to get what he wants. What was he going to to? Tell Eugene to mind his business and let him run the team like he's paid to do? I don't think even I'd have the balls to do that. So in truth the deck was stacked against him a bit but he did make his job a lot harder than it needed to be. What really gets me the worst about good 'ol BM was how hard he tried to sell the fan base a burning pile of garbage and tell us it's a Cadillac. He really got his media lines down to an art form. The smile, the sort of endearing small town lispy accent and the ever so stoic face that he thought would assure us he knew what he was doing. While I will commend Eugene's interest in promoting within to reward loyalty I think that has been more an undoing than anything. Now we have a bunch of stale bread on the shelf and it's time to clean house. Get some bodies in that won't just be yes men and kowtow to the owner. I'm not sure how you do that when we all know that Eugene will want to make sure whoever comes in will be that exact person.

A bit of a rock and a hard place if you ask me.
- Sens.sational

Brian Lee was John Mucklar's pick. Carry on.

Brian Lee was John Mucklar's pick. Carry on.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Correction made. My timeline was off by a few years.

Brian Lee was John Mucklar's pick. Carry on.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Was thinking about our other suckers bet defensive prospect Cowen. My bad.