Pierre Dorion Out As GM Amid Ottawa Senators’ Turbulent Early Season

It has been barely a month since Michael Andlauer was approved as majority owner of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators on Sept. 21. So far, the transition has been far from gentle.

On Wednesday, Andlauer met with the media in Ottawa to announce that he had parted ways with the team’s general manager, Pierre Dorion. The move came after he was informed by the league that the Senators would be required to forfeit a first-round draft pick in either 2024, 2025 or 2026 as punishment for failing to disclose all relevant terms in their July 2021 trade of Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights.

When the Golden Knights subsequently dealt Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks at the 2022 trade deadline, it was revealed that the player had a valid 10-team no-trade list, and the Ducks were one of the teams on the list. The deal was subsequently voided, and Dadonov played out the rest of the season in Vegas. He was then moved to the Montreal Canadiens in June of 2022, then to the Dallas Stars in February of 2023.

This season, the 34-year-old has two goals and one assist in seven games with the Stars, after signing a new two-year contract that carries a cap hit of $2.25 million per season, per CapFriendly. That’s a significant pay cut from his previous deal, which was signed with Dorion in October of 2020 and carried a cap hit of $5 million per season. The 10-team no-trade list remains a term of Dadonov’s current contract.

Andlauer was forthright when explaining why he made Dorion accountable for the oversight when he dealt Dadonov away.

“We were negligent in nature, and our duty of care was ignored,” he said. “That embarrassed the NHL and pissed off two other NHL clubs. 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 that. So today I’m here to announce that Pierre Dorian has resigned and been relieved of his duties as general manager.”

Dorion, 51, is an Ottawa native who joined the Senators organization in 2007 as its director of amateur scouting. After two seasons, he was promoted to director of player personnel, then to assistant general manager in 2014.

When Bryan Murray stepped down as GM amidst his battle with Stage 3 colon cancer at the end of the 2015-16 season, Dorion moved into the big chair. In his first year at the helm, the Senators reached the Eastern Conference Final in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs before falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. But they haven’t been back to the postseason since.

And despite the optimism that has surrounded Andlauer’s instalment as the club’s majority owner and a strong pool of young talent on the roster, the Senators have not yet taken the next step on the ice, which many were expecting that they would this season. Through eight games, Ottawa sits seventh in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division with a record of 4-4-0.

But the resolution to the Dadonov trade fiasco is not the only major distraction that has haunted the Senators. Last week, unsigned 22-year-old forward Shane Pinto was suspended for 41 games as part of a negotiated punishment for violating the NHL’s sports wagering rules. And while it’s not clear exactly how Pinto ran afoul of those rules, the league did emphasize that there is no evidence that Pinto bet on NHL games.

When speaking with the press, Andlauer confirmed that the league’s investigation into Pinto’s actions had been ongoing since at least last summer. And while he expressed support for Pinto and the challenges that young players face when navigating this brand-new legal sports-betting landscape, Andlauer also acknowledged that he had not been aware of the investigation as the team was trying to negotiate a new contract with Pinto.

After spending some time in Ottawa during preseason, Pinto reportedly returned home to his native Long Island around the time the regular season started in mid-October, which is also believed to be around the time that the Senators cut off negotiations — after Andlauer became aware of the gambling investigation.

“We were not made aware, and that’s another troubling thing for me,” Andlauer said. “Whether it’s for the agent disclose to or not — there’s a lot behind the story. I don’t want to say too much but the reality is, at the time that I was made aware, I think we needed to understand what the investigation is all about. I put a stop to negotiations because I wanted to find out. It didn’t make sense, going forward.”

Asked why it took more than a year for the NHL to hand down its punishment regarding the Dadonov trade after its initial two-day hearing, “Why I inherited this is beyond me,” Andlauer said. “I knew about it, the due diligence process, and from a seller’s perspective, it was a non-issue. So — I don’t know if a first-rounder is a non-issue to you guys, but it is to me.”

Amidst that backdrop, the Senators soldier on. And to the surprise of few, Steve Staios now steps in as Ottawa’s interim general manager. A longtime associate of Andlauer’s, the 16-year NHL veteran spent seven years in a GM/team president capacity with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs starting in 2015. From 2003 to 2015, Andlauer had served as the Bulldogs owner before selling the team to the Montreal Canadiens, where he was a minority owner before taking the reins of the Senators this fall.

After spending the 2022-23 season apprenticing under Ken Holland as the Edmonton Oilers’ special assistant to the general manager, Staois was named the Senators’ president of hockey operations on Sept. 29.

“This is certainly not part of my plan,” said Staios, 50, on Wednesday. “I’ve been focused on building the foundation for the long-term success of the Ottawa Senators hockey club. 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 about the great staff and support that’s around me. Looking forward to empowering them to take on more responsibility. I do believe in his team. I believe in this coaching staff and I’m very excited about the future.”

As for Andlauer, he is hoping for calmer waters ahead.

“While the timing is tough, for all these decisions to come so quickly, I am looking forward to less phone calls from the NHL offices,” he said. “We’ll be continuing to focus on bringing forth a best-in-class product, both on and off the ice, for our team.”