It had to be done. On Wednesday, the Ottawa Senators parted ways with general manager Pierre Dorion. This came after the NHL announced that that the Senators have to forfeit a first-round pick as a result of punishment stemming from their 2021 trade that sent Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights and subsequent, invalidated trade that would have sent the forward to the Anaheim Ducks in March 2022. Dorion was held accountable and the Senators announced he had officially resigned.
At this point in the season, the Senators have decided to give the reins to president of hockey operations Steve Staios, who will take over as interim general manager for the time being.
Staios played over 1,000 games in the NHLfrom 1995-2012. He played for six different franchises as a depth winger and ended his his career with 220 points. After retiring from playing, Staios spent time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, first as a player development advisor, then later helping out behind the bench during coaching changes. In 2015, was then hired to be the president of the Hamilton Bulldogs, owned by Andlauer at the time. The following year he took on the role of general manager in addition to his presidential duties and held the two positions through the 2021-22 season.
There is a lot on Staios’ plate at this time with his new responsibilities, which include handling the salary cap as it pertains to the Shane Pinto situation, once he is eligible to return following his 41-game suspension.
This is an interim role as Staios and Andlauer will find a permanent GM in the near future. Rumours quickly swirled around that the Senators could turn to former GMS around the league, including Peter Chiarelli, former Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers GM.
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