GM Pierre Dorion Looks Towards the Senators’ Offseason

Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion held his annual postseason State of the Union address Monday to assembled local media, responding to questions on a wide array of topics.

Dorion opened by praising his team, and for good reason. After a 6-11-2 start to the 2022-23 campaign, the Senators finished 33-24-6 the rest of the way, falling six points out of the final Wildcard position.

On the Senators’ progression:

“Very happy, very happy about the progress this team has made. Very happy about the progress and development our players have made. We played meaningful games which was our goal this year. It’s a process, and through this process, we never wanted to have bandaid solutions. We wanted to have a team that was going to be a team that every year when we dropped the puck at some point in time we were going to contend like any good team in this league, and this year I think we did that.”

Last season, Dorion and head coach D.J. Smith had several meetings that were on the tough side with players. The tone took a wide turn towards the positive Friday when the pair met players.

Thoughts on player exit meetings:

Dorion told Full Press Hockey, “I wouldn’t say tough. The tone was totally different this year. The players themselves know we took big strides this year. We’re ready to totally take it to the next level. The tone was totally different from last year. Last year, I really appreciated what Brady and Thomas (Chabot) said, and wanted to tell them, “Did I check all those boxes that you guys wanted?” And I think I did. But I think it’s up to them now, and they know that. They know from compared to where it was a year ago when we had our meetings. I think the tone was different. They know what the goal is. They know where they want to go. They know their growth. They’re still very young, but they know they achieve that. We still have to make a few tweaks here.”

On returning as GM next season:

“What’s been fun for me all through this process? Getting a chance to talk with multiple groups. Not many GMs get a chance to do this. Our plan was presented, where we started, and where we think we’ll be. I have a contract in place. We don’t have one bad contract. Maybe we don’t have as many picks as we’ve had in other years, but that was part of the plan. So, I’ll let those people decide my fate. I know this team is headed in the right direction for multiple years to come.

Will head coach D.J. Smith and his staff return?

“D.J. has a contract. When it comes to the coaching staff, every year it’s part of my job to re-evaluate. What we asked of D.J. the first three years, was to develop our young players. He’s done that. This year the mission changed, where it was about winning more, and we won more. It was the first time we were over .500 in a long time – first time we were in the playoff race until the end. We played hard. I didn’t hear much of what the players had to say, but I was told by PR staff that Brady (Tkachuk) and Tim (Stützle) were two big recruiters who think the world of him. I’m going to sit down in the next little while to debate everything internally. But I think what we’ve asked of him, he’s delivered on. And that point in time, I’ll have more clarification.”

Will forward Alex DeBrincat be moved?

“We know he’ll be back for one year, and then we’ll go from there. We had a really productive meeting. When we do our exit meetings with the coach, I always believe it’s like a father and mother, sometimes the kids tell you something different from one to the other, so I believe we should be on the same page. We talked throughout the season to his camp and they indicated to us, once we know new ownership was going to go. I think they’re happy with that. We’re going to have to look at our options. If he wants to sign, I think we can get a contract done. If players want to stay, we always talk contract. If players don’t want to stay, they move on. But if he doesn’t want to stay, we’ll have to look at our options.”

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On the status of key pending unrestricted free agents:

“We had a really good talk with Derick (Brassard). With Derick, we’re going to see what happens through the summer due to his injury. It was a pretty significant injury. We’ve left the door open for him to come back next year – the same situation as this year, so on a PTO – go through camp to see if he can play because that injury was fairly significant.”

“Nick Holden will not be back. Nick was a tremendous character in our room. He gave us two good years of hockey, but with the depth coming up in our defense core, we feel it’s time for whomever that might be.”

“Austin Watson, we shouldn’t close the door. We’ll probably look at a one-year deal. I think he’s looking at a bit more term. I want to thank him too, in case he doesn’t come back. The guy played with a broken foot, a bad knee, and in the last, he couldn’t even walk. He’s a tremendous shot-blocker. He makes people accountable in the room. What he’s gone through in his life, I have the utmost respect. He’s one of the highest character players I’ve ever been associated with.”

“Travis Hamonic, we’ve left the door open on a one-year deal. As I stated before, we’re going to be a capped team next year, no matter what. So we have to be a bit creative in how we do certain contracts and what may be available. We’ve talked to Patrick Brown about the possibility in coming back if someone else doesn’t come back.”

Goaltending plan for next season:

“Not that I want to talk specifics, so we ran into some injuries this year. I don’t know what our save percentage was, but it wasn’t where I expected it to be. Cam Talbot will not be back next year. We had a good discussion. Not that I want to get into details, but we offered a one-year deal in January. They wanted a two-year deal. No progress was made. Not that I want to put everything out there, but our fans have the right to know how the process goes, and we were so far apart on AAV. What Cam did here, he brought a great work ethic, brought stability. When Leevi (Merilainen) played his game, every time he came back to the bench, he was talking about what players were doing. When we made this trade, we took a calculated risk. And now he’s going to move on. He has a lot of good hockey left in him.”

“With Anton (Forsberg), if you do a little bit of history, in the game he got hurt, he had won his last four games. Last year, in the second half he was one of the best goalies in the NHL. So, when we talked to Anton, we talked about changing his training, maybe coming back here a little bit earlier because he’s had slower starts in his career in the first half. So Anton Forsberg will be one of the goalies next year. The other one will be either internally, through trade or through free agency.”

“There are three ways we’re going to get a goalie; internally, that would be Mads (Sogaard); I don’t think Leevi will be ready, though he played great in that one game. It will be through a trade or free agency.”

On seeking a depth forward:

“I think our top six is excellent. But ideally, you want a top nine that produces offensively, not a top 12. But at the same time, you need to have your bottom six to check very well, and prevent other teams matchups…It’s how you build that…We have a lot of scoring in our top six. It’s making the right match here.”

Dorion also noted, he still cannot comment on the status of restricted free agent forward Alex Formenton who as a member of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team remains under investigation by the NHL.

On the state of young defensemen Jacob Bernard-Docker and Lassi Thomson:

Each blueliner requires waivers next season prior to assignments to Belleville, the Senators’ American League affiliate.

“I think Jacob Bernard-Docker got better. Every call-up, has gotten better. Jacob has to work on some things. He has to work on puck touches, and boxing out better.  With Lassi, he’s probably our most-talented defenseman with our young prospects that are on the team, but he has to find more consistency. We understand this is part of the process. If either one doesn’t make our team and we have to put them on waivers, we could lose them. That’s part of the process.”

On expectations for next season:

“I’m not going to make any bold statements. I think when the season comes around, I’ll make bigger, bolder statements. This year, we made huge strides, not just the 13 points more than we got last year. It’s how we played, how we competed, how from when the puck was dropped to the last game, expect for maybe seven or eight games out of 82, it bodes well. I think this team is going to really compete for a long time.”