We know that the Senators are searching for a President of Hockey Operations to hire within the next few months. What was initially unclear is exactly who would be targeted, but in the few days since the news came out, more details about the search have emerged. First of all, Elliotte Friedman had some interesting tidbits in his most recent 31 Thoughts:
Some really interesting bits from Friedman in 31 Thoughts about the Sens' search for a President of Hockey Operations. This bit in particular stood out to me:https://t.co/liV7pmSNP5 pic.twitter.com/lbporkMk4I
— Nate (@NKB121) March 26, 2019
The fact that the NHL is involved in this process is extremely odd. It would make sense for them to be involved if a new owner was coming in, but it sounds like the league was essentially forcing/pushing Melnyk to hire someone as President of Hockey Operations as opposed to a Senior Advisor. Who knows how much of this was Melnyk’s idea, but it’s great for the Senators to be bringing in a fresh face regardless. Friedman’s next thought asked more questions that people are wondering about:
“5. The word from the Senators is that no hire is imminent, and the search is just beginning. People say there won’t be interest, but don’t kid yourself. There are only 31 (soon to be 32) of these jobs, and they are coveted. But we’re in a feeling-out process with lots of questions being asked, including: How will this work? What, exactly, is the job description? Who has decision-making power? What is the pay?One executive said that, in a previous job, he had a contract that spelled out what moves he could make without specific ownership permission. Would Eugene Melnyk be agreeable to that? (Melnyk’s going to have to answer a lot of questions, anyway.) If the Senators are looking for someone to manage the owner, be the face of the franchise and let Dorion work, they should expand the search to people who have been in media. You’ve got guys who’ve run teams as a GM (Craig Button), done everything (Doug MacLean) and could handle the opportunity (Ed Olczyk).…
I’ll say right off the bat that hiring Button, MacLean, or Olczyk seems like an awful idea based off of what I’ve heard them say about certain players in the media. As Friedman alludes to, it feels like this incoming POHO will essentially be someone who can manage Melnyk and let Pierre Dorion worry strictly about hockey operations. Someone who is good with the media will be a must as well, as Dorion has been made fun of enough just in the past season alone.
Along with Dean Lombardi, you can cross another big name off the list:
“7. Mike Gillis’s summer flirtation in Ottawa ended badly, so he’s not a candidate for that job.…
I would pay money to learn about exactly what happened with Gillis and the Senators because there have to be some juicy details there. I thought he could have been a good option, but obviously that isn’t going to happen. Bruce Garrioch also provided some insight on the situation and talked about what kind of person that would be brought in for this role. He noted that AGM’s around the league will almost certainly not be candidates, but rather, Melnyk wants someone with experience, someone who has “had the experience of going beyond the second round:…
“If you’re looking for similar models in the league, then look no further than the structure the Toronto Maple Leafs have with Brendan Shanahan as the president and Kyle Dubas in the role of general manager. Before taking on the Leafs’ post, Shanahan had been an NHL executive and player. Take a look at the roles guys like Ron Francis (Carolina), Steve Yzerman (Detroit and Tampa) and Trevor Linden (Vancouver) played with their teams or the president’s job John Davidson has in Columbus if you’re trying to figure out the qualities the Senators want when filling this position.…
Someone like Shanahan has been immensely successful in Toronto, and having someone similar to him or Steve Yzerman would be massive for Ottawa. There will be an extensive search for this new POHO once the season ends, and I’m sure there will be a lot of evaluation as to who is the perfect fit. In terms of other names, Murray Pam provided a good list on Monday in his article for The Sporting News. In the article, he lists Martin Brodeur, Ron Francis, Mike Gillis, Laurence Gilman, Dean Lombardi, Al MacIsaac, Don Maloney, Tim Murray, Randy Sexton, and Steve Yzerman as potential options for the Senators. We know that Gillis and Lombardi will not be coming, plus Maloney sounded like he was content in Calgary. I’d be shocked if Yzerman was willing to work under Melnyk after working for one of the best owners in the NHL, Jeff Vinik. Furthermore, we now know that Brodeur does not have the experience that Melnyk wants.
I think Gilman would be a good option to have somewhere in the front office, but he also doesn’t have the experience that is desired. Francis checks some boxes, although he never brought the Hurricanes to the playoffs in four seasons as GM. The same goes for Murray, as he was unable to build a successful Sabres team. So in reality, the only candidate here that might be realistic and also checks the boxes that Melnyk is looking for is Al MacIsaac, as he is the Blackhawks Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. He has been with the team since 2000 and has been there for their three Stanley Cup championships. However, I’m not sure if the Senators want their POHO to have actual GM experience.
Going through these names, it’s clear that there won’t be that many perfect candidates, and some of those perfect people might not want the job anyway. That’s not to say that a less than ideal candidate can’t do a good job, it’s just that it will be difficult to find a former GM who has had success and is also willing to come to Ottawa. Peter Chiarelli’s name has not been officially mentioned by any people in the media, but I am scared about that possibility because he is from Ottawa, has worked for the organization in the past, has been a GM, and has won a Stanley Cup. The only thing is, he was one of the worst GMs in the league in his tenure with Edmonton. So I pray that he is not someone that is highly sought after.
On the TSN broadcast last night, Bruce Garrioch also mentioned that the team will be looking to beef up its scouting department due to the number of picks they have in the next few seasons, which is good news. I will wait to see the actual hires before I get too excited, plus the rest of their front office is still extremely thin as they could use another Assistant GM, an analytics team of 3-4 people, plus maybe even more (along with a POHO) in order to level the playing field with other teams. The Senators will have to make sure these hires are actually quality staff members, and we won’t know about that for a while.