The Stanley Cup Finals got underway in Colorado last night but apparently the Ottawa Senators just couldn’t wait to get the off-season started.
With the Draft now just a few weeks away and the start of free agency not far behind, Sens news is starting to trickle in. A depth signing here, a front office departure there and of course, some vague comments about Ownership.
It’s good to be back!
Wednesday started with a bang of sorts as the team announced a one-year contract for depth forward Dylan Gambrell.
The 25-year old RFA-to-be carved out a role for himself in the team’s bottom six last year and obviously did enough to earn the trust of the coaching staff. And management too. He’ll make $950,000 next season.
While Gambrell’s offensive upside remains uh limited, he’s responsible in his own end of the rink and capable of taking a regular shift on the penalty kill. Ultimately, teams need depth over the course of a long season and Dylan Gambrell definitely owns a pair of skates and a hockey stick.
The excitement didn’t stop there though as later in the evening, we learned that Assistant GM Peter MacTavish was leaving the organization to join something called Quartexx Hockey which does…well I’m not really sure what they do. But what we do know is Peter MacTavish helps them do it.
It’s never fair to classify a front office departure as a “surprise” around these parts but with the recent speculation the Senators could be looking to add on the management side of things, the timing is interesting. Especially when coupled with the departure of Pierre McGuire, who apparently worked for the Senators for like a year.
Mactavish joined the team back in 2018 and seemed fairly comfortable in the role, despite joining the management side of things with pretty limited experience. He was also doing most of the work down in Belleville so there’s definitely a void to be filled on that front.
Stability heading into one of the most important off-seasons in franchise history would be nice but it looks like Pierre Dorion and Trent Mann will be on their own. At least for now. You get the sense this isn’t the end of the shuffle in the front office.
