Three months after claiming Gabriel Dumont off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dumont will rejoin the Lightning after being plucked off waivers today.
Dumont’s departure is just the latest in a series of transactions that have shipped players — Nate Thompson and Chris DiDomenico — who have some previous connection to head coach Guy Boucher out the door.
In 23 ineffectual games for the Senators, Dumont tallied one goal and added one assist while averaging 8:38 of ice time per game. In 169 minutes and one second, the Senators generated 43.95-percent of the shots (CF%), 43.81-percent of the unblocked shots, 41.88-percent of the shots on goal and 43.26-percent of the scoring chances per NaturalStatTrick.com.
As a fourth line depth player, it’s hard to knock Dumont for his lack of productivity, but it’s difficult to understand why it took this long for the organization to move on.
It’s not like there has been a remote possibility that this team could be on the upswing while Dumont’s been in the fold.
Even from the outset, it seemed like the acquisition of Dumont was redundant.
The Senators were floundering at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and Dumont was essentially depth fodder. For the prospects within the Senators’ system who were on the cusp of a promotion, it had to be disheartening to see their spot taken by a player of Dumont’s ilk.
I like to joke that Tom Pyatt shouldn’t get too comfortable in the wake of all these moves, but it’s more likely that the organization is sending a message to its coaching staff. The widely held belief is that the staff, particularly Boucher, have had some significant input in the acquisition of players who have played for and have some familiarity with Boucher.
Management tried to accommodate and empower a coaching staff that had some success last season, but now that the team has struggled this season, Dorion can absolve himself of some blame by moving on from Boucher’s guys.
Heck, maybe it’s not Pyatt who should be looking over his shoulder. Maybe it should be Boucher himself.
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