With a new ownership group in place, and following the forfeiture of a first-round pick, the Ottawa Senators have decided to make a change.
“Today I’m here to announce that Pierre Dorion has resigned and been relieved of his duties as general manager,” Senators owner Michael Andlauer told reporters.
“I thank Pierre for his efforts for the Sens organization since starting as an amateur scout in 2007 and his contribution in the Ottawa-Gatineau community.”
Dorion served eight seasons as the club’s general manager, and will now be replaced on an interim basis by Steve Staios, the team’s president of hockey operations.
Dorion had worked for the club since 2007, after serving as a scout for the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens.
After working his way up through the organization, he took over as the club’s general manager in April 2016 after the late Bryan Murray stepped away for health reasons.
The Senators have not made the playoffs since 2017, posting a 225-261-59 over the seven seasons he was making decisions.
So far this season, the club has recorded four wins over eight games, leaving Ottawa sitting in seventh place out of eight teams in the Eastern Division.
The final straw appears to have come earlier Wednesday, when the NHL announced the club had forfeited a future first round draft as the result of a botched trade.
The Senators dealt forward Evgenii Dadonov to Vegas in July 2021 but failed to supply them with the his 10-team no-trade list. The Golden Knights then tried to move him to Anaheim nine months later, but that trade was cancelled because he would not waive his no-trade clause.
A group led by Toronto businessman Andlauer were officially approved as the new owners of the team in late September.
As is often the case in sports, it did not take long for them to begin putting their stamp on the franchise.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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