![\"Thoughts](\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/dorionphone.jpg\")
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The 2020 NHL Draft is just weeks away, but ironically, the Ottawa Senators have refrained from dealing with the local media directly to promote their brand or the direction that a franchise has a chance to go in.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say that excitement within the fan base isn\u2019t palpable.<\/p>\n
It is.<\/p>\n
It just seems like the organization is doing as little as possible to spur more interest in their young core, the next wave of prospects or the rebrand that is set to be unveiled on October 6th<\/sup> in conjunction with the 2020 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n Irrespective of how much the organization believes the media has unfairly contributed to its maligned reputation and negative public perception, there needs to be acknowledgment of the self-inflicted harm this organization has done.<\/p>\n Not allowing employees to appear on the broadcast partner\u2019s networks or dragging the feet on features like Anthony Duclair\u2019s Hockey Diversity Alliance does nobody any favours.<\/p>\n There is a broad spectrum of hockey fans in this market and not everyone is going to support the organization unconditionally.<\/p>\n Ignoring media responsibilities is cutting off your nose to spite your face and it disenfranchises a lot of fans. Looking at the attendance figures, this may be a Canadian hockey market, but you cannot just assume that winning is going to be cure-all solution.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t work with the team\u2019s 2017 Conference Final appearance and it is going to take some recognition that the problems run deeper than the figures that appear in the win and loss columns.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s hoping general manager Pierre Dorion\u2019s media appearances become more frequent because for the first time since June 26th<\/sup>, the Senators\u2019 general manager held a media availability at 11 am yesterday and followed it up with an appearance on TSN 1200\u2019s \u2018In the Box\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re unfamiliar with the format of these posts, it\u2019s pretty simple. I\u2019ve transcribed Dorion\u2019s two interviews below and have included my own thoughts after his comments.<\/p>\n If you want to listen to the two interviews, the audio is embedded within this article.<\/p>\n As always, my thoughts are highlighted in bold<\/strong>.<\/p>\n General Media Availability<\/strong><\/p>\n On what the Senators\u2019 strategy is with an abundance of picks and whether that opens the door to the possibility of a trade or two\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWell obviously, we\u2019re going to look at every possible scenario. There\u2019s a lot of chatter going on right now amongst GMs. A lot of teams are building competitive teams through next year, as we are trying to do. We will look at possible trades with picks if it makes sense, but it has to make sense for us. It has to make sense in what we\u2019re trying to do as far as our rebuild, our plan and not try to jump steps that will make us a better team in the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n Highlighting due diligence and exhausting \u201cevery possible scenario\u201d is going to be a recurring pattern throughout these interviews. <\/strong><\/p>\n On whether the Senators would look at need or best player available with the fifth overall pick\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to draft the best player that is going to help us win as we move forward through this plan. We\u2019re going to draft a player that\u2026 we have a lot of needs. We\u2019ve finished in 30th<\/sup>, 31st<\/sup> and 30th<\/sup> place over the last few years so we have a lot of needs. We have a lot of prospects coming at multiple positions, but we are going to draft who we feel is going to help us win in the near future and in the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking at failed rebuilds across the league over the past number of years, one of the biggest shortcomings for teams like the Sabres is that many of them have struggled to efficiently supplement their elite talent. Thanks to poor drafting and player development, the Sabres injected elite talent like Jack Eichel onto the roster without having good depth through its prospect system.<\/strong><\/p>\n In Ottawa, that hopefully won\u2019t be the case. The Athletic<\/em> recently ran an organizational ranking feature detailing which teams had the best collection of 22 and under talent on the roster and within its farm system. Before the 2020 NHL Draft in which the Senators have two top-five selections and nine picks in the first three rounds, the organization was ranked eighth by Corey Pronman.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Senators have depth at every position, but it is easy to make the argument that the team lacks safely projectable high-end talent in most of these positions.<\/strong><\/p>\n With the third and fifth overall picks, that will obviously change. <\/strong><\/p>\n I know some pundits have explained the rationale for possibly rolling the dice on the goaltender Yaroslav Askarov who is torching the KHL to start the season, but for me, this idea is too risky. <\/strong><\/p>\n The goaltending position is historically volatile and there\u2019s no certainty that Askarov will fulfill his upside or have that upside be significant enough to be markedly better than his relative peers who would otherwise fill Ottawa\u2019s position. <\/strong><\/p>\n In a league where it is easy to fill the goaltending position in a much easier and less expensive fashion (in terms of the opportunity cost wasted here), I would prefer to see the organization use their top-two picks to draft some high-end forwards while using their first-round pick and assortment of second rounders to address the blue line while hoping that one of their goaltending prospects at the professional takes a step forward and demonstrates that they can play at a number one starter\u2019s level. <\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps most importantly, that Seattle expansion draft is not that far away and with it, the Senators should be provided with an opportunity to move an asset for a goaltender that an organization simply does not have room to protect.<\/strong><\/p>\n My advice for Pierre Dorion is to be patient when it comes to looking to address the goaltending position.<\/strong><\/p>\n On an update on Anders Nilsson\u2019s health\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve talked. Pierre Groulx has been in weekly discussion with Anders. I\u2019ve talked with his agent Claude Lemieux. We think Anders will be ready to start when the season starts. He has not been on the ice, but he feels better. Once we get him to Ottawa here, we\u2019ll have a better indication on his recovery and his path. Right now, he would probably be the only player who I would still (consider) injured.\u201d<\/p>\n The lack of progress with Nilsson is concerning because when Dorion last appeared on TSN 1200 in May, he indicated that the Swedish goaltender was recovering well. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cYes, there is actually. He\u2019s feeling great, exercising, working out. He\u2019s in Sweden. He just needs to get back out on the ice. Once he gets back on the ice and starts stopping pucks, he\u2019ll be back to 100-percent.\u201d ~ Dorion on TSN 1200, May 29th<\/sup>, 2020<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n That was five months ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n Obviously there has to be some kind of contingency plan in place to add a veteran netminder if Nilsson\u2019s health doesn\u2019t improve, but hopefully this does not fuel more of the rumours that the Senators have interest in Pittsburgh\u2019s Matt Murray.<\/strong><\/p>\n On reports that Jake Sanderson could be paired with Jacob Bernard-Docker at North Dakota this season and whether that would make him more appealing as a draft eligible\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we\u2019re very well aware of who\u2019s being paired with what, especially when it comes to our prospects. Jake Sanderson is one of the better defencemen in this draft and there are a lot of very good defencemen at the top of this draft. He\u2019s someone that we\u2019ve interviewed along with a lot of other defencemen. We have a good feel for them and we\u2019ve seen them play a lot. Wherever he may fall in the draft, we know that he is going to be a good NHL player down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a solid humblebrag about player utilization, but unfortunately Dorion talked around the question without ever answering whether it makes Sanderson more attractive for the Senators at the fifth position. If I had to read into his answer alone, I\u2019m guessing the Senators go elsewhere with this pick \u2013 especially when projecting Thomas Chabot, Erik Brannstrom and possibly even Christian Wolanin as occupying left defence roles for the foreseeable future. (Note: I know Brannstrom prefers his off-side, but management and the coaching staff seem to prefer him on his natural side.) <\/strong><\/p>\n On the amount of trade chatter and whether teams are more engaged as they are eliminated from the postseason\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe got calls as soon as GMs left the bubble. The next day after certain teams that had lost, you could tell that they weren\u2019t very happy about losing, so there\u2019s been lots of chatter. Obviously, we haven\u2019t done anything so far or there\u2019s nothing right now that has been worth it, but as we move along, we are always looking at our options. We want to make sure that we follow a plan, that we don\u2019t take any shortcuts, don\u2019t jump steps that we shouldn\u2019t be jumping to make sure that we have long-term success here and that\u2019s the first and foremost. At the same time, we have to make sure that when we bring our younger players into the lineup that they are well-surrounded. And whether that\u2019s via trade or free agency, we will make sure to do that once the season starts.\u201d<\/p>\n Using a team\u2019s emotional response to a small sample size and a truly bizarre and unique set of circumstances is something that seems like the Senators should be able to take advantage of.<\/strong><\/p>\n My hope here is that the Senators don\u2019t waste coveted assets on good but not great players who simply won\u2019t move the needle much. <\/strong><\/p>\n On what will the setup be for the draft and whether he can provide an update on Craig Anderson\u2019s status\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, this will be the first time that I can remember in my over 25 years in the NHL that all our scouts won\u2019t be there. And that\u2019s unfortunate because our scouts have put in countless hours. We are as well-prepared for any draft that I\u2019ve ever been a part of. Kudos goes to our scouting staff led by Trent Mann. We have a lot of picks, but we are as well-prepared as we can be. Unfortunately, our European-based scouts won\u2019t be part of it. Our U.S.-based scouts, and it pains me to say this, not having a guy like Bob Janecyk be here in Ottawa really, I think, hurts me because he\u2019s such a big part of our scouting staff. And at the same time, it\u2019s only going to be the Canadian-based scouts here. What\u2019s good here is that Trent Mann lives in the Maritimes and he\u2019s going to be the one running the draft and I know we\u2019re going to make a lot of good picks because of the work that our scouting staff has put in. We had extra months to prepare for this draft and what\u2019s impressed me so much are the extra hours that our scouts have put in to prepare for this. Because we had a bit more time, earlier on I was fortunate enough to be part of a lot of these discussions and these guys are very thorough.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m jumping in here. Logistically, it would be fascinating to see how the Senators are going to run their draft board knowing that key individuals will not be present in-person at the table.<\/strong><\/p>\n The organization already has exhibited a preference selecting North American players or Europeans who either already play in North America or Sweden. Will the circumstances affecting the presence of certain scouts at the table help continue that trend?<\/strong><\/p>\n In theory, the volume of draft picks should afford the Senators the flexibility to roll the dice on some riskier high-upside plays from outside North America, but that doesn\u2019t really fit the team\u2019s modus operandi. Besides the excitement of seeing who the team selects at three and five, this is one of the things I\u2019m most looking forward to watching unfold. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAs far as Craig Anderson, not that I really want to get into the specifics with players in our organization, but we\u2019ve let Craig know that we will not be offering him a contract. Craig should be given so much credit. It was one of the best trades that Bryan Murray ever made. He is the winningest goalie in this organization. I\u2019ll go on the record and say he\u2019s the most performing goalie in this organization. He\u2019s the best goalie we\u2019ve ever had, but it\u2019s time for us to take another direction and we thank him for everything he did. When we made that Conference Final run a few years ago, everyone knows that Craig was probably our MVP and unfortunately that (Chris) Kunitz goal but\u2026 it was unfortunate that we were never able to win a Cup with Craig, but Craig did many wonderful things for this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n Craig Anderson leaves the Senators as the franchise leader in appearances (435) and wins. He unquestionably was the goaltender with the best career as an Ottawa Senator, but the greatest stretch of goaltending that Ottawa has ever seen at the position was Dominik Hasek\u2019s 43 games in 2006.<\/strong><\/p>\n As far as being the team\u2019s MVP during the 2017 Conference Final run, that honour belongs to Erik Karlsson.<\/strong><\/p>\n Scott Wheeler highlighted this important detail in a recent piece for The Athletic<\/em>: <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhen Karlsson was on the ice at 5-on-5 in those playoffs, the Senators outscored their opponents 23-11. Those 23 goals for were three more than any other player in the playoffs, even though he didn\u2019t play in the final round. Among those 23 goals, Karlsson contributed directly to 13 of them, effectively out-producing the opposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When he was off the ice, the Senators were outscored 25-12 by their opponents. And when it was over, so too was the illusion of success he\u2019d single-handedly created for his team.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n On updating the situation with the rest of Ottawa\u2019s UFAs (Hainsey, Sabourin, Borowiecki, and Peca)\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really want to get into specifics of conversations with those players. I think on Mark Borowiecki, we\u2019ve seen that Mark looks like he\u2019s going to test free agent waters. Mark has been a great member of this team for many years. If he\u2019s going to go to the free agent market, we thank him for everything that he\u2019s done. I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll ever meet a better person than Mark Borowiecki. He\u2019s someone who has great values. He\u2019s a great human being, but at the same time, we have to respect the player\u2019s wish. If he wants to go to free agency, we have to look at it through the negotiations with his agent, Steve Bartlett \u2013 who\u2019s a quality human being also. We probably saw that we didn\u2019t want to see the same things. We have a lot of good defencemen coming up, so we wish Mark the best success. We are still talking with all of the other three agents for the three other guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Dorion\u2019s interestingly portraying Borowiecki\u2019s departure as a function of the defenceman\u2019s desire to test free agency.<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t expect the general manager to acknowledge that the disrespect and mistruths the organization shared in the New Year regarding Borowiecki\u2019s future played a contributing role, but enough people should be able to read between the lines and recognize that a player who bent over backwards for this organization<\/a> felt slighted.<\/strong><\/p>\n On whether there is any progress with Anthony Duclair or the other RFAs in contract negotiations\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just going to be general with the RFAs. We\u2019re talking with agents and talks have picked up in the last few weeks and I think we\u2019re just going to leave it at that. As you guys know, I don\u2019t negotiate through the media, but we\u2019re having productive conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n Between Connor Brown and the aforementioned Duclair, these two impending RFAs have the potential to be problematic. Both are good, but not great players that the organization could overcommit to in both term and money. <\/strong><\/p>\n On draft eligible prospects playing in games in Europe already and whether their performances can affect their draft rankings\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we\u2019d be foolish not to have our scouts attend those games. Both Mikko Ruutu and Anders Osberg have been attending games of these players. They\u2019re very well aware of them. Sometimes it just solidifies the points where you had them on your list. Nothing has changed for us with the reviewings, but at the same time, we wouldn\u2019t be doing our job and gathering as much information as possible because players do change over the course of a summer. And for us, it\u2019s just bonus coverage and we\u2019re fortunate to have viewings of these players.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest piece of information here is that these games have not changed the Senators\u2019 draft board. Recency bias could play a role, but the Senators have to recognize that these players have benefited from strong offseasons while others who have not been afforded the opportunity to play right away in North America have not been extended the same luxury.<\/strong><\/p>\n On how challenging it has been to finalize the draft board and whether the draft board is finalized\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cOur draft board is pretty much finalized. We\u2019re going to have meetings with our scouts through Zoom the weekend previous to the draft which will be on Tuesday, if I\u2019m not mistaken \u2013 the first round. As far as\u2026 all 31 teams faced the same challenges. I think for us, this year, we were fortunate enough that instead of having 15 minutes with the players at the combines, we were able to have, even some of them, we had multiple hours with them through Zoom. We aren\u2019t allowed to meet players in person, which is something that I know a lot of GMs picking at the top of the draft would have wished for. But, we have to respect the process. The biggest hurdle for all 31 teams is there hasn\u2019t been a physical combine where you get to test a player\u2019s physical strength, but all 31 teams faced that challenge. I think it penalizes us a bit more because we have 13 picks and nine picks in the first three rounds, but it\u2019s the way the world is right now. We understand it and we respect it, but we\u2019re going to do our best job with all the information that we were able to gather.\u201d<\/p>\n Is the absence of an NHL combine really that much of a disadvantage? <\/strong><\/p>\n I give you, exhibit A: <\/strong><\/p>\n I'll go you one better – there's an NHL team who passed on him at that draft because his force plate results at the combine were bad. Felt he would never be an elite athlete. https:\/\/t.co\/VQDCdCUOik<\/a><\/p>\n — Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) September 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n