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Pierre McGuire Fired By Ottawa Senators

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The Ottawa Senators have made a change to the front office, firing vice president of player development Pierre McGuire according to A.J. Jakubec and Steve Lloyd of TSN.

It hasn’t even been a year since the Senators hired McGuire, announcing him on July 12, 2021. Notably, the press release that day included a statement from late owner Eugene Melnyk, not general manager Pierre Dorion, who is still in control of the front office after signing an extension in September. Dorion is trying to take the team from a rebuilding club to a contender, though things did seem to take a slight step backward this season when the team struggled out of the gate.

McGuire, 60, had returned to an NHL front office after more than two decades in a broadcasting role–a role he will likely be returning to now that he’s a free agent once again. His most recent role before this one was as a scout with the Senators in 1996, and a quick exit this time around could spell the end of his time in NHL front offices entirely.

For Ottawa, player development is more important than anything. As a club that isn’t among the league’s financial elite, getting value out of young players on entry-level contracts is the entire game. If McGuire wasn’t getting the best out of that development, it makes sense for the team to move on. With the likes of Jake Sanderson, Ridly Greig, Tyler Boucher joining the organization, the development department will be in the spotlight for the next little while.

Bettman: Senators Not For Sale

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  • After the sudden passing of longtime Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, there has been much conversation about the future of his team and its ownership. When asked about that future, Bettman decided to pump the breaks on any speculation of a quick change in ownership for the Senators. Bettman said, as relayed by Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, that the Senators “aren’t for sale,” and that there have not been discussions on any level about a potential sale of the team. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that Senators management is currently reporting to the board that Melnyk put in place before his passing, and it was made clear from Bettman’s comments that this arrangement is not one the league sees any real need to immediately change.

Senators Send Three Junior Prospects To The AHL

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For players playing in junior in Canada, they typically have to be 20 before they can play in the minors with a couple of exceptions.  One of those is that a player can go down once their junior team is eliminated from the playoffs (or doesn’t qualify at all).  The Senators are certainly taking advantage of that provision as their farm team announced that prospects Tyler Boucher, Ridly Greig, and Carson Latimer have all been assigned to AHL Belleville.

Boucher was the tenth-overall pick last summer out of the U.S. National Development program and started the season at Boston University before changing his development path in late December when he signed with Ottawa.  The winger was assigned to OHL Ottawa in January and put up seven goals and seven assists in 24 regular season games with the 67’s while adding a goal and an assist in four playoff contests.

As for Greig, the 2020 first-round pick (28th overall) has a bit of AHL experience under his belt as he was able to play in seven minor league games last season while waiting for the WHL season to get underway.  The 19-year-old winger had a standout year with WHL Brandon, notching 26 goals and 37 assists in just 39 games while also being named to Canada’s entry for the World Juniors last December.

Latimer, meanwhile, was a 2021 fourth-rounder (123rd overall).  The winger started the season with Edmonton of the WHL before being moved to Prince Albert at the beginning of December where he had an opportunity to play a bigger role and made the most of it, picking up 12 goals and 20 assists in 44 games.

None of the three players were in the lineup for the opening game of Belleville’s play-in series against Rochester tonight but if the Senators are able to move on, it’s possible that Boucher and Greig, in particular, get a chance at some extra game action in the weeks to come.

NHL Announces 2022 Draft Lottery Odds

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With the conclusion of the 2022 regular season coming this afternoon after the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-3 in regulation, the entire league standings are finally settled, and so are the odds for the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery, which will take place on Tuesday, May 10th, at 6:30 pm ET. The odds, which increase in reverse order of the NHL standings, are as follows (link):

Montreal Canadiens – 18.5%
Arizona Coyotes – 13.5%
Seattle Kraken – 11.5%
Philadelphia Flyers – 9.5%
New Jersey Devils – 8.5%
Chicago Blackhawks* – 7.5%
Ottawa Senators – 6.5%
Detroit Red Wings – 6.0%
Buffalo Sabres – 5.0%
Anaheim Ducks – 3.5%
San Jose Sharks – 3.0%
Columbus Blue Jackets – 2.5%
New York Islanders – 2.0%
Winnipeg Jets – 1.5%
Vancouver Canucks – 0.5%
Vegas Golden Knights** – 0.5%

* As a result of the Seth Jones trade on July 23, 2021, Chicago will transfer their 2022 first-round pick to Columbus, unless it is a top-two pick, at which point they will transfer their 2023 first-round pick instead.

** As a result of the Jack Eichel trade on November 4, 2021, Vegas will transfer its 2022 first-round pick to Buffalo, unless it is a top-ten pick, at which point they will transfer their 2023 first-round pick instead.

As a reminder, the NHL announced changes to the rules for the operation of the draft lottery on March 23, 2021, which in effect limits the amount of spots certain teams may move up. Teams are not eligible to move up more than 10 spots in the lottery; so, only the eleven teams with the highest odds can receive the first-overall pick. For example, the San Jose Sharks have the potential to receive the first overall selection, however the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have the next-highest odds, cannot select any higher than second overall. In previous years, any team in the lottery was eligible to move up to the first, second, or third position.

Another change to the lottery this year will be that only two teams will be chosen in the lottery, unlike previous years when three were selected. Then, like previous years, the remaining teams will be awarded their selection in reverse order of the NHL standings. This change means that a team with the highest odds, this year Montreal, will be guaranteed a top-three selection, whereas they could drop to as low as fourth in previous lotteries.

Although the odds drop off steeply as the list goes on, the lottery is still worth paying attention to for fans of the lower teams. Sure, Montreal is much more likely to win one of the two lotteries than the Islanders or Jets, however previous teams with poor odds have prevailed, most notably including the 2017 Flyers and 2020 Rangers.

Michael Del Zotto Clears Waivers

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All three players placed on waivers yesterday, Michael Del Zotto (OTT), Sheldon Dries (VAN), and Nic Petan (VAN), cleared waivers today and can be assigned to their respective AHL clubs (link). Though these three do not belong to playoff teams in the NHL, their being sent to the AHL is not necessarily insignificant, as both the Belleville Senators and the Abbotsford Canucks, the AHL affiliates of the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks, respectively, have made the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs.

On Del Zotto, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia says that even though Del Zotto cleared and could join Belleville, it’s not entirely clear if he will actually join the team (link). A veteran of 736 NHL games, the 31-year-old Del Zotto has been an NHL regular since his rookie season in 2009-10 with the New York Rangers, last seeing AHL time in 2010-11. This season, however, has been a different story. Del Zotto managed only 26 games with the struggling Ottawa Senators, though when he was in the lineup, he impressed, posting 13 points in those 26 games. The defenseman did see his first AHL action in over a decade as well, dressing in as many games (26), but had an impeccable 27 points for Belleville. Having Del Zotto suit up for Belleville to help their run would not only benefit Belleville of course, but would help Ottawa as well, with Del Zotto providing a major boost to a team full of young, future Ottawa Senators getting experience with meaningful professional playoff games.

Senators Notes: Free Agents, World Championships, Brown, Sanderson

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Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion spoke to reporters today during his end-of-season availability, stating that forwards Chris Tierney and Tyler Ennis won’t be extended and defenseman Victor Mete won’t be issued a qualifying offer. The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise as the team likely looks to be a little more aggressive in free agency, pursuing bigger talents to help push a budding young core into playoff contention.

Tierney had just 18 points in 70 games this season, a career-low. Ennis was much more productive in an even more limited role, notching 24 points in 57 games. He should continue to find a home next season to provide solid depth scoring. Mete only appeared in 37 games this season, oftentimes a healthy scratch.

  • Dorion also announced that forwards Austin Watson and Adam Gaudette will make the trip to Finland to represent the United States at the 2022 World Championships, joining teammate Tim Stutzle who will be with Germany. Gaudette had just 14 points in 58 games this year, a far cry from his 33-point year in 59 games a few seasons back. Watson, known for his grit rather than his scoring, ended up with more points, tallying 16 in 67 games.
  • Forward Connor Brown was dealing with not one but two wrist injuries by the time the season ended. That didn’t stop him much, though, as he still tallied a respectable 39 points in 64 games as he battled through injury at various points this season. He’s done nothing but score consistently since joining the Senators, tallying 117 points in 191 games over three seasons so far.
  • Promising defense prospect Jake Sanderson re-injured his hand this week, but Dorion says he’ll be ready for training camp. Dorion notes Sanderson will participate in development camp over the summer, while forward Shane Pinto, who was injured most of this season, will join him at rookie camp.

Murray Dealing With Post-Concussion Symptoms; Batherson And Stutzle To Play At The Worlds, Tkachuk Doubtful

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Senators goaltender Matt Murray was hoping to return down the stretch to give him an opportunity to play for Canada at the upcoming World Championships but had to shut it down last week due to post-concussion symptoms, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link).  It was a tough season for the 27-year-old as he was limited to just 20 games where he had a GAA of 3.05 and a SV% of .906, numbers that aren’t worth his $6.25MM AAV.  That resulted in Murray clearing waivers back in November.  With Anton Forsberg signing an extension back at the trade deadline and prospect Filip Gustavsson being waiver-eligible in 2022-23, Murray’s spot on Ottawa’s roster to start next season is far from a guarantee.

  • With the regular season now done (at least for 30 of 32 teams), several trades that have conditions in them have now been finalized. One of those was the move that sent Zach Senyshyn to Ottawa in exchange for a conditional draft pick.  Had the winger played in five games with the Senators, the Bruins would have received Ottawa’s 2022 sixth-round pick.  He only played in two so Boston will instead get their 2022 seventh-rounder.

Senators Waive Michael Del Zotto

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Ottawa’s farm team will be beginning their playoffs next week and the Senators sent down several players today to help on that front.  Their intention is to send one more down as James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Michael Del Zotto has been placed on waivers today for the purpose of being sent to Belleville.

Del Zotto has already cleared waivers once this season back in December.  After that happened, he became a productive player in Belleville, collecting 27 points in 26 games which earned him a recall back to the big club after the trade deadline.  The 31-year-old picked up seven points for Ottawa after that stretch and wrapped up his year with three goals and ten assists in 26 games while averaging 18:15 per game.  Those 13 points matched his total in Columbus from 2020-21 but he needed 27 fewer games to get there this season.

Del Zotto has one year remaining on his contract with a $2MM cap hit and a $2.25MM salary.  He has been a speculative buyout candidate as a result of him being in the minors for half the season so it’s unlikely he’ll be claimed; he’d be ineligible to play in the NHL or AHL playoffs if someone was to pick him up by 1 PM CT on Sunday.  But after a decent offensive season, there could be interest in him later in the offseason if the Sens are willing to retain part of his contract to facilitate a trade.

Andrew Peeke To Play In World Championship; Josh Norris Will Not

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Another name for Team USA at the upcoming World Championship has emerged, as Andrew Peeke will head to Finland for the event next month according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Peeke’s first full season in the NHL will come to an end tonight when the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It’s been an impressive year for the 24-year-old defenseman, who quickly went from organizational depth to top-pairing option. Over his last 45 games, Peeke has averaged nearly 24 minutes a night, racking up hits and blocked shots while carrying a huge defensive load. His deployment at even-strength is skewed heavily toward the defensive end, he averages more penalty-killing time than anyone else on the Blue Jackets roster, and his 168 blocks and 191 hits lead all Columbus defenders by a wide margin.

All of that comes at a cap hit of just $787.5K, as Peeke signed a two-year contract last summer that is paying him the league minimum this year. While he doesn’t provide much offense–just two goals and 15 points in 81 games–he’s still been one of the most valuable players on the Blue Jackets all season long. He’ll now be rewarded by getting a chance to represent his country on the international stage, something that hasn’t happened very often throughout his career. This will be his first chance at the World Championship, and though he did make the 2018 World Junior squad and played in one Hlinka-Gretzky, he isn’t a product of the USNTDP like so many others, which has limited his exposure to international tournaments.

The U.S. team will unfortunately not have Josh Norris, however, as Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that the Ottawa Senators forward has turned down the opportunity to play at the event. Norris is a pending restricted free agent, a status that often leads to players declining an invitation as they try to secure their future. Just 22, the San Jose draft pick scored 34 goals this season in just 65 games and looks like a candidate for a long-term extension. With no arbitration eligibility though, the Senators could go for a bridge deal or even squeeze him into a one-year, extremely inexpensive contract, if they want to try and maximize savings.

Connor Brown, Colin White Out Rest Of Season

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  • The Ottawa Senators had an exciting reinforcement at practice today as Shane Pinto joined the group, but he won’t actually play before the end of the season. Pinto hasn’t played since November, and totaled just five games on the season. It was more bad news when head coach D.J. Smith took the podium after practice, announcing that Colin White and Connor Brown are both not expected to play again this season. Brown is dealing with nagging injuries and his inclusion in the upcoming World Championship will be up to him and how he feels in the coming weeks. Brown finishes the disappointing year with ten goals and 39 points in 64 games.

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