Wayne Scanlan reported in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday that due to his health issues, this will likely be the final season for Bryan Murray in his current role as General Manager of the Ottawa Senators.
Scanlan also stated that Murray has been told by Eugene Melnyk that Murray will be the one to choose who the next GM will be.
It will be one of the more important decisions in the future direction of the franchise, one that will no doubt be highly anticipated by the fan base.
Will the Senators, conscious as always of the bottom line, choose to promote from within and turn the reins over to one of the current assistant GM's - Randy Lee or Pierre Dorion?
Or will Melnyk allow the wallet to be opened up and bring in someone with a little more pedigree, such as former Penguins GM Ray Shero, who has connections with the Senators franchise from past employment and was reported to be hanging around the franchise meeting with the brass in the weeks following the announcement of just how grave Murray's health truly is?
Some names to keep an eye on that have been mentioned with other previous GM opportunities include Jason Botterill, who was mentioned as a possible replacement for Shero in Pittsburgh but was name Associate GM when Jim Rutherford took over. Botterill has been mentioned for a lot of different jobs, but he has been patient in Pittsburgh and might be willing to learn under Rutherford, who took the job on a pretty temporary (2-3 year) basis.
Tampa Bay Assistant GM Julien BriseBois is another name often mentioned for GM opportunities. He has a track record of building minor league systems in Montreal and Tampa, and seems ready to graduate to the NHL level.
Paul Fenton (Nashville assistant GM), Laurence Gilman (Vancouver assistant GM) would both be good selections and Rick Dudley (assistant GM in Montreal and former Senators GM) has learned a lot from his first unsuccessful stint in Ottawa and is on a lot of radars.
The dark horse in this, when it gets right down to it, might be NBC announcer Pierre Maguire. Maguire has spent a lot of time living in Montreal and in Mont Tremblant, and is a former assistant coach with the Senators, and spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh under the tutelage of Scotty Bowman, a fact that he is not embarrassed to point out in almost any conversation. It would be an interesting hire, because Maguire is polariazing and can often wear on people as a broadcaster, and seems to be a "love him or hate him, there is no in between" guy. He has let it be known he would like to be at the helm of an NHL team and has been in the running for a few vacancies of late. I don't think that will happen, but it would never be a dull day with him running the ship.
It is almost a shame Tim Murray couldn't have waited even 6 months before getting the job in Buffalo, because you would think if he could have known this was coming he would have stayed in Ottawa and taken over for his uncle, as the plan seemed to be for so long.
It is a huge decision that probably won't be made overnight, but the decision will shape the next 10 or 15 years of the franchise, so it should be made carefully.