Welcome, once again, to the latest edition of the THN Hot Seat, an ongoing collection of THN.com columns in which we zero in on one member of every NHL team who’ll face massive amounts of pressure in the 2022-23 season. The Hot Seat nominee can be an NHL player, team owner, GM, or head coach. In this new file, we’re looking at the Ottawa Senators.
SENATORS HOT SEAT: (tie) PIERRE DORION, GENERAL MANAGER; AND D.J. SMITH, HEAD COACH
WHY: It’s been one hell of an off-season for the Senator, who added major firepower on offense with the acquisitions of star forwards Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat, and who buttressed their goaltending by trading for former Minnesota Wild netminder Cam Talbot. The result of all their transactions is a deep, talented, mostly-young Senators squad, and expectations for the franchise have risen from merely being consistently competitive to make the playoffs this coming year.
As a result, the focus now shifts to the management team of GM Pierre Dorion and head coach D.J. Smith; the former has been in the GM role since April of 2016, while the latter was hired in 2019. Post-season success has eluded both men, and although the focus of many Ottawa fans and media is rightfully going to be on their core of young talent, the responsibility ultimately falls on Smith and Dorion. If the Sens slump for any significant period, and thus put themselves behind the eight-ball in the increasingly-competitive Atlantic Division, Dorion and Smith are going to take the heat for it, and changes to one or both positions may be made.
Now, as some GMs are wont to do to protect their jobs, Dorion could decide to dismiss Smith, but that would mean Dorion would be hiring the fourth head coach in his tenure, and four coaches in six years is not anyone’s idea of a great track record in hiring bench bosses. At some point, you have to look further up the management tree and put the blame on the GM. It’s fair to say Dorion has been patient in assembling a talented group to build around, but it’s also fair to say some in Ottawa will be clamoring for change at the top if they cannot make the jump in the Atlantic standings
Certainly, Ottawa is no perfect team. Dorion’s defense corps leaves a good deal to be desired, and he’s staking his season on 35-year-old Talbot – who is on his fifth NHL team in as many years – and tandem-mate Anton Forsberg, a 29-year-old who’s played more than 36 games just once in his NHL career – last season, when he appeared in 46 games. The Senators do have more than $7.9 million in salary cap space to improve in-season, but some of that will have to go to restricted free agents Alex Formenton and Erik Brannstrom. So, any moves Dorion makes likely will mean moving someone from off the NHL roster.
Pointing out the fact Smith and Dorion are on the Hot Seat is not a direct condemnation of either man. It’s simply a reality check, an acknowledgment that it’s far easier to change up a coaching/management duo than to start peeling off roster members. There will never be a shortage of candidates prepared to replace Dorion and Smith, and if there’s a letdown – meaning the Sens come up short on a playoff berth, there’s almost no way both men would return for the 2023-24 campaign. And if Dorion is fired before Smith, it’s doubtful Smith would be retained by Dorion’s replacement. Either the Senators rise to the challenge, or change is on the horizon.
