The Ottawa Senators are hiring.
On Saturday, news broke that the organization is searching for a new President of Hockey Operations.
The job last belonged to the late Bryan Murray and it’s a position that has been vacant since Murray passed away in August of 2017. Tom Anselmi briefly held a similar position as Team President but his focus was on the business side of things while it sounds like this hire is more to support Pierre Dorion.
Hockey Night in Canada touched on the search during their intermission segment and then the team released a statement of its own.
While this is obviously a position that should have been filled all along, it’s encouraging to see the organization making it a priority now. Eugene Melnyk spoke to Post Media and provided additional context on why the team feels it’s so important to fill this role.
With so many draft picks in the next three years and with a deep prospect pool already in place, these next few years are going to be crucial for the franchise.
Having another experienced voice in that Front Office and maybe a buffer of sorts between Ownership and Management would be a huge improvement.
Dean Lombardi was the first name circulating in the rumour mill on Saturday night. John Shannon suggested that the Senators did approach him but Pierre LeBrun dismissed that possibility on Sunday, saying Lombardi plans on staying with the Flyers.
Terry Murray was making the rounds on Ottawa radio recently and was mentioned as a possible candidate. He’s currently working as an Assistant Coach in the American Hockey League. Mike Gillis was approached about the position last year but nothing came of it. Brian Burke is probably looking for work.
It goes without saying but this has the potential to be a big hire for the franchise.
Fans have been reluctant to fully embrace this rebuild partly because there concerns about the clearly financial motivations behind it but also because outside of selling off high-priced talent, there was no tangible investment being made off the ice.
A move like this would be a big step in the right direction.
Whether or not they are able to attract an experienced voice with the track record to back it up remains to be seen.
