You know, it’s sort of remarkable that the Toronto Maple Leafs spent 12 months and 82 games trying to avoid that exact thing happening.
And by remarkable, I mean hilarious.
The first couple days of the NHL playoffs have provided a healthy dose of both entertainment and laughs but in Ottawa, the focus is still on the fallout from a series of season-ending interviews.
And as we all know, there is nothing quite like a season-ending press conference from the General Manager to give us all sorts of wacky stuff to talk about.
Sens fans have done plenty of that since Monday.
Although to his credit, Pierre Dorion has come a long way in how he addresses the media. He’s still prone to hyperbole from time to time (aren’t we all?!?!) but he’s certainly not as quotable as he was in those early years.
His press conference and interview on TSN 1200 were full of traps and he managed to avoid most of them. He provided clarity and certainty where he could and on some topics, like the future of the Head Coach for example, gave himself some wiggle room.
To the chagrin of some, he stopped short of guaranteeing a return to the playoffs next year but realistically, nothing good can come of such a declaration before the off-season has even played out.
As is always the case, you should listen to the interviews for yourself.
When you rely on twitter and out of context quotes, you often miss the intent of what is actually being said. This has happened to Pierre Dorion on many occasions so it’s worth sitting through the media availability for yourself.
As far as end-of-season interviews go, this was about as awkward as it gets. Not because of anything Dorion said necessarily but more the circumstances around it.
While Pierre Dorion has a contract for next year, his status is a complete unknown.
Not because of his track record but because with new Ownership on the horizon, everything will soon be under review. So to expect a GM to talk about his plans for the next few months when he really doesn’t know if they’re his decisions to make is…strange to say the least. Yet despite those question marks, Dorion laid out a pretty clear plan for the months ahead.
On the UFAs, both Austin Watson and Travis Hamonic can expect one-year offers to come back. Although in both cases, the players have indicated they would prefer a contract with term. Wouldn’t we all. There might be room for Patrick Brown but they’ll need some time to figure that one out. Another PTO for Derrick Brassard is a possibility. Cam Talbot and Nick Holden won’t be back.
The RFAs are a little bit trickier but the real uncertainty is the future of Alex DeBrincat. While he appears open to the possibility of a long-term deal, there really haven’t been any significant talks to this point and as Dorion mentioned on TSN1200, DeBrincat and his agent have said they’ll let the Senators know their intentions before the Draft.
Erik Brannstrom is also an RFA and while there was a time when his future in the organization was very much in doubt, that’s no longer the case. Both the GM and Coach spoke highly of his performance in the second half of the season and made it clear that he’s part of the solution on the back end.
In terms of priorities for the off-season, it sounds like goaltending and the bottom six forwards are top of the list. DeBrincat’s decision could influence that though.
Overall, there was actually a startling amount of transparency in Dorion’s comments. In a couple instances, it really had the feel of a job interview. Like he was trying to convince both fans and future Owners that he had a plan to take the team to the next level.
Whether or not he gets the opportunity to execute that plan is in the hands of those yet-to-be-named Owners.
