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Senators Set to Hire a POHO Above Dorion?

March 24, 2019, 2:33 AM ET [24 Comments]
Trevor Shackles
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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UPDATE:

Well, it looks like it will not be Dean Lombardi, which is fine by me:




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Some interesting news came out yesterday regarding the Senators front office, and I’d say it’s positive:




The timing of this is funny for me personally, because I was just thinking about how the Senators could have really used Bryan Murray as a “POHO” right now in order to field more questions from the media as well as help Dorion in more areas. Murray’s passing in the summer of 2017 was tragic, and it is obvious how much he is missed within the organization. Hiring somebody above Dorion is a smart move just because the Senators front office is comically thin right now, and Dorion needs much more help around him.

According to Bruce Garrioch, the Senators released a statement confirming the reports that they are looking to hire a POHO:

“It should come as no surprise that – given the scale of our rebuild and the opportunity to be part of a turnaround fuelled by an enormous well of young talent, including elite prospects and draft picks (17 in the first three rounds of the next three seasons) – the Ottawa Senators have become an attractive destination for hockey executives.

General manager Pierre Dorion has done a masterful job of assembling these important assets and positioning the Senators for the future. It’s one of the main reasons why Eugene Melnyk continues to have full confidence in Pierre Dorion and his team.

Going forward, the Senators intend to hire a President of Hockey Operations to support and provide guidance to the General Manager, and to fill the void left by the late Bryan Murray. The position is integral to the success of the hockey club, especially as we continue our rebuilding process, hiring a top-notch candidate to fill this role is critically important.”

I do find it strange that Dorion has been the GM for almost three years now, yet they are just realizing now that it would be wise to have a replacement for Murray above him. They are not wrong that coming into a management role with this team could be intriguing due to its young players, prospects, and picks, but then again, the owner could cancel all of those things out. So it is really difficult to say who around the league would be willing to sacrifice some of their sanity in order to advance their career.

I wonder if the team is realizing how poorly Dorion does with the media, and a POHO could potentially get his messages across much easier. Furthermore, it can’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes during a rebuild that actually needs to be accelerated if we are to believe that Melnyk wants to spend beginning in 2021.

Of course, whether to be excited or not depends on who Ottawa will be hiring. If it is someone as smart as Brendan Shanahan for the Maple Leafs, that is a massive upgrade for the organization. But if they pick an experienced and local GM such as Peter Chiarelli, then that is more subtraction by addition. Garrioch mentions former LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi as a potential candidate for the position, but no other names were given. Considering he was at the helm from 2006-2017 and won two Stanley Cups, he might not be that bad of an option. At the same time, I hope the Senators do their due diligence and make sure they are getting the best person possible for the job.

I will take this as good news because Ottawa has been in desperate need of some new faces in the front office, and this should be a nice upgrade.
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