Senators’ Owner Michael Andlauer Doesn’t Mince Words

Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer didn’t mince any words during Wednesday’s press conference when speaking about his club forfeiting a first-round selection in either the 2024, 2025 or 2026 Entry Draft due to improprieties committed during a July 28, 2021 trade call with the Vegas Golden Knights; in addition to the announcement last week regarding the 41-game suspension of Shane Pinto for violating the NHL’s gambling rules.

Andlauer stated his first 30 days as owner, “exceeded my expectations in all aspects.” However, the past 10 have been tumultuous on and off the ice; a three-game losing streak, injuries to key defenseman Thomas Chabot, and Artem Zub, plus the Pinto ban. “Kind of brought me back to Earth.” was the term expressed today by Andlauer.

The Senators’ majority owner wasn’t made aware of the league’s review of the Evgenii Dadonov trade by his team to Vegas at any time during the final days of the purchasing process of the team and was despondent of the severity of the punishment handed down.

Andlauer said, “And with respect to today’s NHL series ruling, the 73-page report that was shared with me last week stems from actions originated by our hockey club. Unfortunately, we were negligent in nature and our duty of care was ignored, which set off events that embarrassed the league and pissed off two other NHL clubs (Vegas, Anaheim). As a member of this league, we have to be held accountable for our actions. And while this was done before my watch I must respect the league’s decision.”

This statement was poignant in that Michael Andlauer recognized there was some form of impropriety made by the Senators during the initial trade call and made it clear, it didn’t occur on  his “watch.”

The belief is the NHL had ample time to deal with the situation, but it took over 19 months for the league to issue a penalty.

“You have to ask the NHL why it took a whole year since the hearing. Granted it was a two-day hearing – a 73-page report. It’s not something that’s just a slam dunk. The Commissioner (Gary Bettman) had a lot of time to deliberate on it and think about it. But why I inherited this is beyond me. There’s no reason for it to last that long. I knew about it through the due diligence process, and it was basically from the sellers perspective. It was really a non-issue. So I don’t know if first-round (pick) is a non-issue to you guys, but it is to me.” commented Andlauer.

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The fallout from that not only cost the Senators a first-round pick within the next three years, it forced the resignation of General Manager Pierre Dorion.

Originally hired by Bryan Murray as Director of Amateur Scouting in 2007-08, Dorion spent the past seven-plus seasons as the team’s GM.

After reading the entire Dadonov trade investigation report, Michael Andlauer eventually sat with Dorion alongside Senators’ President of Hockey Operations Tuesday over dinner. There the now-former GM offered his resignation.

“I think Pierre is a very proud man. And I wasn’t going to do this from afar. I wanted to do it in person and explain the situation. I obviously inherited it, but at the same time I’m a human being and he (Dorion) brings a lot of great qualities, and he cares he cares for this organization. He has been with this organization for a long time. He’s from the area. He’s from Orleans. And so that’s how it evolved,” Andlauer explained.

For the time being, Staios will add the GM title to his duties on an interim basis.

The former 16-year NHL veteran noted the long-term foundation of the Senators organization is strong.

“I feel like we’ve made some good strides in those areas. Now that things have changed and circumstances have led to this. I will now look after the day-to-day operations as well as continue to look at the big picture. I’m excited. I have a great staff and support that’s around me. I’m looking forward to empowering them to take on more of a role and responsibility. I do believe in this team, I believe in this coaching staff, and I’m very excited about the future,” added Staios.

Andlauer’s press conference went beyond the Dadonov decision Wednesday afternoon. The Senators’ owner openly provided his thoughts on how the club learned of the league’s investigation of Shane Pinto, how they’ll continue to support him, and that arguably the NHL’s greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky is being used as a beacon when it comes to promoting gambling.

Andlauer on not being made of aware of the investigation, “That’s another troubling thing for me – whether it’s the agent is supposed to or not. There’s a lot behind the story. I don’t want to talk too much, but the reality is at the time that I know I was made aware, I figured we needed to understand what the investigation is all about.”

At that point, Andlauer directed all contract negotiations between the club and Pinto’s agent Lewis Gross to be shelved as he noted didn’t have the facts.

Michael Andlauer spoke of the pressures of being a young player of today.

“I remember Steve (Staios) talking in his initial press conference, admiring this generation of hockey players. It’s so true that they have so many more pressures than any other generation. And you look at a young man who’s making millions of dollars that represent millions of people in a community, but he’s 21 years old. And let’s say they’re injured, and they got time on their hands, and they’ve got millions of dollars. They’ve a cell phone and Wayne Gretzky gets on MGM and talks about betting and I’ll just leave it at that. So for me, the important part is that this young man gets all the help, all the support from this organization, and he will be a better person with with all of us supporting him. He’s already made a difference, being the first person and he regrets what he’s done. And he’s getting help for it at the end of the day. By default, he’s actually helped all the other players that are going to be going through Belleville and Ottawa in this organization.”

For Andlauer, Wednesday was all about accountability and transparency to Senators’ fans.

“And while the timing is tough for all these decisions coming so quickly, I am looking less phone calls from the NHL offices, and I’ll be continuing to focus on bringing forth the best in class product both on and off the ice for our team.”