Two and a half months after the news came out, Randy Lee is finally out of the Ottawa Senators organization.
With the news that Lee's hearing was being pushed back, he decided to resign as Assistant GM of the Ottawa Senators and as GM of the Belleville Senators:
BREAKING: Senators announce that assistant GM Randy Lee has resigned. Club announces a search for his replacement is underway.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) August 21, 2018
Here is the Senators statement on the situation, as well as Lee's statement:
BREAKING: #Sens announce assistant Randy Lee has resigned. He’s due back in court in Buffalo tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/IXRnnbrkB8
— Matt Harris (@mattfharris) August 21, 2018
Randy Lee's statement emailed out after he resigned as AGM of the Senators: pic.twitter.com/h4x75sj9Z5
— Chris Stevenson (@CJ_Stevenson) August 21, 2018
The Senators obviously didn't want to comment much on the situation, and Lee didn't say anything too interesting, although at least he noticed that the team needed someone to help out in the front office and Lee was incapable. The Senators look good in this situation because Lee is no longer employed by them, but at the same time, they could have fired him a while ago and did not. You could easily make an argument that he should have been fired due to his management of the AHL team too, but that's a different story.
I do wonder whether this was fully Lee's decision or not. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Senator pressured him into "resigning" because then it looks like his decision and he gets to leave the organization not as disgracefully. If this actually happened, then the Senators also don't get the backlash from fans who would inevitably be upset that they fired a man who had yet to go through the courts.
At the end of the day, the Senators organization is in a much better spot than it was yesterday in terms of PR, but also in terms of player analysis. It's a day with only good news, which has become a rare occurrence over the past year. The Senators could have done even better in this situation, but I'll certainly take this outcome as well.
As Tyler Ray points out on Twitter, I do think it's hilarious that this news came out when it did:
The Sens tapping the "send" button on the Randy Lee news just as the White House is awash in the flames of indictments demonstrates better timing than anything I saw on the ice in 17/18. Get that communications guy on the ice this season.
— Tyler Ray (@DefenseMinister) August 21, 2018
I really hope that the team looks outside of the organization to fill the vacant position(s), because they were incredibly short-staffed even before Lee's departure. I'm not sure who would be out there, plus I don't think people around the league are exactly champing at the bit to get to Ottawa right now, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to find somebody. After all, if they are giving this person a promotion, the extra money could easily be worth it.
The team desperately needs a fresh voice and a new perspective in the room, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so. If they simply promote from within then it'll be another failed attempt to improve the front office. However, I'll focus on the positive here and be excited at the possibility of getting Dorion a better right-hand man.