Pierre Dorion was relieved of his duties as general manager of the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
The 51-year-old was replaced by Steve Staios, the president of hockey operations, who will be interim GM during the search for a permanent replacement.
“My first 30 days as owner of the Ottawa Senators has exceeded my expectations from all aspects,” owner Michael Andlauer said. “From the great fan support, to this incredible city that has adopted me with open arms, to the passionate staff who care very much for our team as well as a great exciting team who also care very much on the ice. Our team got off to a great start in the last 30 days, but unfortunately the last 10 days have not been much fun for me and kind of brought be back down to earth.”
Dorion joined the Senators in 2007 as a scout before being named director of player personnel in 2009 and assistant GM in 2014. He succeeded Bryan Murray on April 10, 2016, when Murray announced he was stepping down.
Ottawa qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs once during Dorion's tenure as GM, in 2016 when it got within one game of the Stanley Cup Final, losing 3-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. The Senators were 225-261-59 under Dorion and had a 13-point improvement last season (39-35-8, 86 points) from 2021-22 (33-42-7, 73 points).
This season, the Senators (4-5-0) are last in the eight-team Atlantic Division following their 3-2 loss at home against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
"I was able to talk to [Dorion] yesterday and wish him all the best," Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said after the morning skate. "But now it's best to look forward on a big month for us and a big game for us tonight. Of course with our record right now, we want to just keep improving and keep getting better day in and day out."
On Oct. 26, the NHL announced Senators forward Shane Pinto was suspended for 41 games for activities relating to sports wagering.
The NHL on Wednesday announced the Senators would forfeit a first-round draft pick for their role in the trade of forward Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights on July 28, 2021, and the subsequent, invalidated trade of Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks by the Golden Knights on March 21, 2022.
Ottawa will forfeit its first-round pick in either the 2024, 2025 or 2026 NHL Draft. The determination as to which pick will be forfeited will be made by the Senators within 24 hours of the conclusion of the NHL Draft Lottery for that year.
“With respect to today’s NHL serious ruling, the 73-page report that was shared with me last week stems from actions originated by our hockey club, unfortunately, that we were negligent in nature and our duty of care was ignored, which set off events that embarrassed the League and [upset] two other NHL clubs,” Andlauer said. “As a member of this league, we have to be held accountable for our actions, and while this was done before my watch, I must respect the League’s decision.”
Staios, 50, will take over the GM duties from Dorion effective immediately. Staios joined the Senators shortly after Andlauer finalized the purchase of the club from the estate of the late Eugene Melnyk on Sept. 21.
Staios had been a special adviser with the Edmonton Oilers last season. He played 1,001 NHL games in 16 seasons as a defenseman with the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Atlanta Thrashers, Oilers, Calgary Flames and New York Islanders.
“This is not part of my plan,” Staios said. “I’d been focused on building the foundation for the long-term success of the Ottawa Senators hockey club. I feel like we made some good strides in those areas. Now that things have changed and circumstances have led to this, I will now look after the day-to-day operations as well as continue to look at the big picture.
“I’m excited. I have a great staff and support around me. I’m looking forward to empowering them to take more of a role and responsibility. I do believe in this team, I believe in this coaching staff and I’m very excited about the future.”
Coach D.J. Smith was hired May 23, 2019.
"I'm very thankful for [Dorion] for giving me my opportunity to come here and work with him every day, but as in sports, it's unfortunate for the families, his family and everyone involved," Smith said Thursday. "But this is part of the business. It's the hard part of the business and we have no choice but to move on and look toward a fresh start with Michael and Steve. Our coaching staff has a fresh start, to start to make up some ground and win some hockey games. And for us, that's got to be the focus, make these players better and win hockey games."
Andlauer said the forfeiting of a first-round pick could be considered the final straw for Dorion. The two spoke Tuesday, and Andlauer said it was decided over dinner that it would be best for Dorion to part ways with Ottawa.
“When you look at the significance of the penalty, I always talk about accountability … and in this case, at the end of the day we’re at fault for what transpired,” Andlauer said. “We can argue about how harsh this penalty was, but ultimately this could have been avoided and the accountability is with our hockey club, and Pierre was ultimately responsible for the hockey operations of this club.
“I think a lot of the decisions that have been made and the issues we had could have been avoided.”
Staios said his first order of business is to bring the team stability and confidence.
“I’ll do what’s best for the Ottawa Senators, that’s the bottom line,” Staios said. “As this sort of starts to unfold we’ll take a look at what our options might be and who might be available (to become GM).”
NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report
