Sens Writer: The era of GM Pierre Dorion is now over in Ottawa

The new owner of the Senators has every right to be upset
Makes no sense that this 1st rd pick wasn’t stripped last draft

Also, how does this punishment compare to Chicago’s sex abuse scandal ????? Embarrassing

They delayed on this for a long time in order to keep the value of the sens high for the sale process.

My hope is they appeal, like NJ did, and get it back. Or lessen the punishment.

Only thing I can think of is Dorion lied or hid the information on purpose and got caught.

They delayed on this for a long time in order to keep the value of the sens high for the sale process.

My hope is they appeal, like NJ did, and get it back. Or lessen the punishment.

Only thing I can think of is Dorion lied or hid the information on purpose and got caught.
- GrimmdaGoalie

The only question I have to him deliberately lying is why? Was he that desperate to move him?

If so, I suppose he made the trade hoping Dadonov wasn't traded in the next year to one of the 10 teams.

When Dadanov was traded to Vegas, wouldn't the No Trade terms have been in Dadanov's contract?

Wouldn't Vegas have read the contract and called shenanighans if they weren't interested in acquiring a player with trade limitations? And called out the Sens back then?

Even after Vegas acquired Dadanov, Did at no point they read the terms of his contract BEFORE they tried to trade him to the Ducks?

Doesn't Vegas have some responsibility to do their due diligence when they acquired Dadonov, and not claim that "they didn't know" months after the fact?

Punishment should have been a fine (difference between Dadonov and Holden's contract) and a 3rd round pick back to Vegas. Vegas not receiving anything seems kind of silly since they were the ones who got screwed out of PD lying/being incompetent.

But as others have said, Chicago gets a 2 mil fine (which is basically nothing to their owner), but can still draft Bedard.

Ottawa's GM is bad at his job and Sens lose a first round pick? That makes no sense. At least give the pick to Vegas, not just forfeit the thing.

Unrelated, but still something I don't get - Evander Kane goes bankrupt gambling and he gets a long-term contract to play with the Oilers.

I don't get it.

The only question I have to him deliberately lying is why? Was he that desperate to move him?

If so, I suppose he made the trade hoping Dadonov wasn't traded in the next year to one of the 10 teams.
- david22

I wonder if there was evidence Melnyk knew, hence the harsh penalty. Of course, trying to discern the league's rationale for punishment is a fool's errand. Arizona lost a 1st and 2nd for working a guy out which was a violation, but how is that worse than defrauding another team?

Punishment should have been a fine (difference between Dadonov and Holden's contract) and a 3rd round pick back to Vegas. Vegas not receiving anything seems kind of silly since they were the ones who got screwed out of PD lying/being incompetent.

But as others have said, Chicago gets a 2 mil fine (which is basically nothing to their owner), but can still draft Bedard.

Ottawa's GM is bad at his job and Sens lose a first round pick? That makes no sense. At least give the pick to Vegas, not just forfeit the thing.

Unrelated, but still something I don't get - Evander Kane goes bankrupt gambling and he gets a long-term contract to play with the Oilers.

I don't get it.
- PogBoi

The player had a 10 team list. Dorion knew about the list. That's material for VGK because he became its property. Any trade restriction would have been something that VGK put into the mix to determine what to offer OTT for the player. This was f*ckery, not just negligence.

The only question I have to him deliberately lying is why? Was he that desperate to move him?

If so, I suppose he made the trade hoping Dadonov wasn't traded in the next year to one of the 10 teams.
- david22

I suspect that Dorion might have believed that *despite* the NTC, the player would have accepted any trade anywhere, because at the time Dadonov was being treated as an albatross against the cap. The thing is, Dadonov really just wanted to win - going to Anaheim would be lovely, awesome weather, great town. The problem is Vegas still had playoff aspirations, where Anaheim sucked the bag (AND he'd be hit with higher taxes). If that was Dorion's gambit, it was a misfire. If he overlooked the list, it was a misfire. Basically, intentional or not, fail.

Dorion may have had an owner driven mandate to move Dadonov's salary at any cost, but he's a human being: he had the agency to be ethical despite what his boss tells him. At the same time, he's a human being, and it's possible he overlooked or forgot a detail. Any way you slice it, you screwed up and you gotta pay the piper.

The main issue is how long this took to break, and how the team was sold before the punishment was made apparent. Andlauer feels like he was sold a raw deal and I don't blame him. It really does look like the league dragged it out to extract it's pound of flesh from him during the sale. Sh*tty way to treat the new guy IMO.

The new owner of the Senators has every right to be upset
Makes no sense that this 1st rd pick wasn’t stripped last draft

Also, how does this punishment compare to Chicago’s sex abuse scandal ????? Embarrassing
- jjonah

Agree.

This was the last straw as the owner stated. Eventually ownership and Steve Staios has to prove themselves to fans.

Removing people from the organization is one thing, but adding the right GM and other staff is huge for this team to be contenders.

I'm very frustrated (as I hope the owner is) with asset management beyond the top 5 of the draft.

Also, why did the league go back on its original decision not to punish the Sens?

If new info came to light, they should be forthcoming, at least say that.

When Dadanov was traded to Vegas, wouldn't the No Trade terms have been in Dadanov's contract?

Wouldn't Vegas have read the contract and called shenanighans if they weren't interested in acquiring a player with trade limitations? And called out the Sens back then?

Even after Vegas acquired Dadanov, Did at no point they read the terms of his contract BEFORE they tried to trade him to the Ducks?

Doesn't Vegas have some responsibility to do their due diligence when they acquired Dadonov, and not claim that "they didn't know" months after the fact?
- RoloTahmasee

Players have to submit a list by a certain date every year, and that list can change from year to year, but once submitted, remains locked until the next period.

IMO...

Pierre Dorion's 5 worst decisions

5) Giving a 3rd to take Logan Brown instead of McAvoy, Chychrun, etc
4) Trading Mark Stone for Erik Brannstrom + 2nd
3) Trading a 7th overall pick for 1 year of DeBrincat
2) Trading Mika Zibanejad + 2nd for Derick Brassard
1) Evgenii Dadonov situation costing a 1st and his job!

Pierre Dorion's 5 Best Decisions

5) Drake Batherson contract (Chychrun trade is a tie)
4) Drafting Jake Sanderson 5th instead of Drysdale, Holtz, etc
3) Signing Stutzle, Tkachuk, Sanderson to 8 year deals (good $)
2) Selecting Tkachuk 4th instead of Zadina, Hayton, or Q.Hughes
1) Trading Erik Karlsson for Josh Norris, 1st (Tim Stutzle)

IMO...

Pierre Dorion's 5 worst decisions

5) Giving a 3rd to take Logan Brown instead of McAvoy, Chychrun, etc
4) Trading Mark Stone for Erik Brannstrom + 2nd
3) Trading a 7th overall pick for 1 year of DeBrincat
2) Trading Mika Zibanejad + 2nd for Derick Brassard
1) Evgenii Dadonov situation costing a 1st and his job!

Pierre Dorion's 5 Best Decisions

5) Drake Batherson contract (Chychrun trade is a tie)
4) Drafting Jake Sanderson 5th instead of Drysdale, Holtz, etc
3) Signing Stutzle, Tkachuk, Sanderson to 8 year deals (good $)
2) Selecting Tkachuk 4th instead of Zadina, Hayton, or Q.Hughes
1) Trading Erik Karlsson for Josh Norris, 1st (Tim Stutzle)
- AlfieisKing

Good lists! I'd have been happy with Quinn Hughes as well, but we got a gem in Brady. Weighing things out, I think Pierre did more good than bad. Zibanejad and Stone are tough to swallow, but the EK65 trade worked out real well for us. Is that partly luck? Sure. But I'll take a lucky GM any day. Considering how delicately he had to navigate a difficult relationship, and badly he was hamstrung, he did a-ok. Even losing a future #1, this team looks good on paper and will for some time. I don't see any problematic contracts, including Joseph (who is currently flirting with a PPG on the third line). He did not leave a tire fire. Dorion may have overstayed his welcome, but we could well be singing his praises in short order.

Be careful what you wish for. Rumor has Chiarelli coming on board with the Sens.

I could see Chiarelli coming in as an assistant GM.

But I look forward to the Mathieu Darche era as GM. Follow the Andlauer/Staios connections for the next GM. "Getting the band back together".

(Just a little movie quote)
Pierre Dorion to Andlauer ..... "No, I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locus. It wasn't my fault. I swear to god!"

Maybe Chicago is hiring scouts. Good luck Pierre. I still think he could work in scouting departments.


As for a new coach .... maybe trade JD Smith to Toronto for John Gruden (Marlies head coach ). Again ..... follow the Andlauer connection. Just like the new Matt Nicol hire ... strong connections with Staios.

Be careful what you wish for. Rumor has Chiarelli coming on board with the Sens.
- wreckage

The pre-season exuberance shared by many Sens fans has painfully been displaced. Its unlikely even Chia is interested, particularly if consideration of a potential Gatineau Arena District is being disclosed to prospective GMs.

Good lists! I'd have been happy with Quinn Hughes as well, but we got a gem in Brady. Weighing things out, I think Pierre did more good than bad. Zibanejad and Stone are tough to swallow, but the EK65 trade worked out real well for us. Is that partly luck? Sure. But I'll take a lucky GM any day. Considering how delicately he had to navigate a difficult relationship, and badly he was hamstrung, he did a-ok. Even losing a future #1, this team looks good on paper and will for some time. I don't see any problematic contracts, including Joseph (who is currently flirting with a PPG on the third line). He did not leave a tire fire. Dorion may have overstayed his welcome, but we could well be singing his praises in short order.
- Bartacus

I like his aggressive moves as GM, with that said - he did hire too many different coaches, he did trade Zibanejad AND a 2nd for Brassard. He also wasted WAY TOO MANY PICKS, with a scouting background it's a real shame. 2015, Thomas Chabot was an excellent pick at 18 but Colin White at 21 with Travis Konency right there pissed me off. In 2016, I didn't know who to take but trading up 1 spot for a third to take Logan Brown was a failure. Then 2017 you take Bowers but he goes to COL for Duchene. 2018, 2020 I'll put aside because those were top 5 picks. 2019 Ottawa gave 4th overall Byram in the Duchene deal. Get Lassi Thomson with the 19th pick (he was put on waivers this year). Oh 2018 Jacob Bernard Docker was taken ahead of Rasums Sandin, who I had my eye on, and he also is a waste of a 1st. Then 2021 we take Tyler Boucher for some F**ked up reason at 10th. 2023 7th overall is gone because of DeBrincat. Now Dorion F's us again with giving another 1st rounders.

Good teams draft well - exceptional teams draft exceptionally well (or they need top 2 overall picks) to win a cup. That's my biggest problem with Pierre, he should've did a better job there

This whole situation is bonkers, and I don't see how Ottawa possibly did anything to warrant losing a first round pick.

Why did it take so long to sort out? Why did they need a 70 page report? Everyone with an internet connection knew that there was a partial NTC in the contract. Did Vegas not ask about it? Did Vegas not get a copy of the contact? Did Vegas not talk to the player at all?

I guess the only reason Ottawa might have done something worth punishing is if Dorian intentionally deceived them by saying he was waiving his NTC permanently, but, again, shouldn't Vegas have double checked that. If Vegas asked for the list, what possible reason would Dorian have for saying there wasn't one?

Vegas still comes across looking the most incompetent in this whole situation unless there's something crazy in that 70 page report.

Anduleaur gave a virtuoso performance in press conference. Essentially called out the league and Bettman for the slippery manner in the way the Dadenov and Pinto matters were reported to him as a prospective owner during the bidding process. Friedman clearly gives the Ottawa owner an A+ for his discussion of the issues.

My favourite moment of the press conference was when the new owner said they want punish the behaviour of a 20 year old kid for undisclosed gambling infractions. Yet, the NHL celebrates Wayne Gretzky advertising MGM hockey gambling on national tv.

"The player had a 10 team list. Dorion knew about the list. That's material for VGK because he became its property. Any trade restriction would have been something that VGK put into the mix to determine what to offer OTT for the player. This was f*ckery, not just negligence."

This is where it gets stinky for me. The list is and was in the public domain. You can use the internet/way back machine to find out. Capfriendly had it. Vegas knew about the list. But perhaps not the updated list. I think that's where Dorian was negligent. He didn't give them the updated list. But I don't see how it's worth a 1st round pick. There's no way that Vegas had already decided to flip the asset a year in advance to Anaheim, check and see if Anaheim wasn't on the list and say "oh...ok we're good".

You can't get into the rest of the league's punishments for more severe crimes and female dog about it. Total "whataboutism". It's everywhere in society and politics and it's annoying. Dorion didn't give them the updated list, Vegas, Anaheim and the NHL got embarrassed by a technicality that several layers of lawyers and auditors should have seen but didn't...and as our new owner said "had to have their pound of flesh".

I love Andlauer calling out the league over the sports gambling hypocrisy. I like this guy.

Looking forward to the post Dorion era... and to the post DJ Smith era.

Every move by Andlauer and Staios on behalf of the Senators has looked solid. With excellence in talent assessment and roster construction, this team will challenge for the Cup.

As for Dorion, he did build a solid foundation of high end talent despite a large number of poor choices. I'm thankful for that.

Looking at Ottawa's schedule for the remainder of the calendar year, it's REALLY good for the Sens (outside the Sweden trip) but even then they have MANY years to rest before playing AT HOME to NYI. This coaching staff has to get this team to WIN. And win right away. Starts tonight with LAK

"The player had a 10 team list. Dorion knew about the list. That's material for VGK because he became its property. Any trade restriction would have been something that VGK put into the mix to determine what to offer OTT for the player. This was f*ckery, not just negligence."

This is where it gets stinky for me. The list is and was in the public domain. You can use the internet/way back machine to find out. Capfriendly had it. Vegas knew about the list. But perhaps not the updated list. I think that's where Dorian was negligent. He didn't give them the updated list. But I don't see how it's worth a 1st round pick. There's no way that Vegas had already decided to flip the asset a year in advance to Anaheim, check and see if Anaheim wasn't on the list and say "oh...ok we're good".

You can't get into the rest of the league's punishments for more severe crimes and female dog about it. Total "whataboutism". It's everywhere in society and politics and it's annoying. Dorion didn't give them the updated list, Vegas, Anaheim and the NHL got embarrassed by a technicality that several layers of lawyers and auditors should have seen but didn't...and as our new owner said "had to have their pound of flesh".

I love Andlauer calling out the league over the sports gambling hypocrisy. I like this guy.
- Octavarium

That's the thing: Were changes to the list, if any, hidden? Did PD misrepresent the list? Was that misrepresentation in writing? I have a hard time believing VGK didn't have some sort of due diligence checklist, and that it would have included "current NMC/NTC/M-NTC". I agree on the punishment. If this was determined to be a PD issue, then ban the guy for a period of time. If it was an organizational issue? Then a draft pick forfeiture is probably appropriate. But the fact that this isn't transparent makes it seem arbitrary. The NHL is so bizarre.

IMO...

Pierre Dorion's 5 worst decisions

5) Giving a 3rd to take Logan Brown instead of McAvoy, Chychrun, etc
4) Trading Mark Stone for Erik Brannstrom + 2nd
3) Trading a 7th overall pick for 1 year of DeBrincat
2) Trading Mika Zibanejad + 2nd for Derick Brassard
1) Evgenii Dadonov situation costing a 1st and his job!

Pierre Dorion's 5 Best Decisions

5) Drake Batherson contract (Chychrun trade is a tie)
4) Drafting Jake Sanderson 5th instead of Drysdale, Holtz, etc
3) Signing Stutzle, Tkachuk, Sanderson to 8 year deals (good $)
2) Selecting Tkachuk 4th instead of Zadina, Hayton, or Q.Hughes
1) Trading Erik Karlsson for Josh Norris, 1st (Tim Stutzle)
- AlfieisKing

Goalie-centric...but how is signing Matt Murray not on this list? Or trading away Gus for Cam Talbot?