Sexton recalls Sens' expansion draft
Former Senators GM Sexton has fond memories of Ottawa's expansion draft
Randy Sexton speaks from experience and as this week got under way, he sent a few texts to friends who work for the Seattle Kraken to wish them all the best in the expansion draft.
“I sent them a note just to convey to them what an incredible and unique experience it is to be able to work for an expansion franchise,” Sexton told this newspaper Monday morning from Minneapolis, where he's working as a senior adviser to Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin. "And how special it is to build a team from the ground up.
“I have nothing but fond memories from the draft in Montreal. It didn't go quite the way we envisioned, but we got through it nonetheless.”
Sexton, 61, who helped win the expansion franchise for Ottawa along with Bruce Firestone and Cyril Leeder, remembers that night at the Gouverneur Hotel in Montreal on June 18, 1992, when the club made its initial selections with representatives of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both teams began play in the NHL in October 1992.
Of course, when Sexton speaks of that night not going as planned, he's referring to the fact that on three occasions, inaugural Ottawa GM Mel Bridgman stepped to the microphone to select players that weren't available. Bridgman tried to select a player from each of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, but they'd already lost two players.
The third player was someone who wasn't available.
Then-league VP Brian O'Neill turned down the selections and each time Bridgman was forced to say “Ottawa apologizes.”
As Sexton recalls, there were several different available lists floating around when the Senators got to the table, but Bridgman didn't have the most up-todate list. Those of us who were in the room remember a seething Firestone asking Bridgman at one point what the hell was going on because it was a huge blow to the Senators' credibility.
“Somewhere during the day there was an updated list handed to us that never that never got conveyed to Mel. As a result, everybody was working off an old list,” Sexton said.
But those gaffes didn't ruin the night or put a damper on the excitement surrounding the Senators. With a budget of about $6 million to $7 million (Canadian) to spend on players, the club decided it would try to get character players that would compete under coach Rick Bowness and would build the organization through the draft.
The Senators and Bolts were allowed to select two goalies, seven defencemen and 12 forwards. Since Tampa was going into a non-traditional hockey market, Lightning GM Phil Esposito opted for veteran players who could help win right away. The Senators picked up veterans and role players who played with their heart and soul every night.
“We knew we were a small market team and we knew we weren't going to be a large budget team,” said Sexton. "We tried to strike the balance of finding players that met our criteria of character with skill, hockey sense and et cetera. We also wanted to field a team to be competitive every night and not get locked into a long-term contracts or take on difficult contracts because we knew we didn't have the financial wherewithal to do it being in the Civic Centre for at least two years.
“On top of that, our plan was to build through the draft knowing we wouldn't have the big bucks to chase the high-priced free agents, so there was somewhat of a balancing act.”
That first team had no shortage of character when you look back now. Captain Laurie Boschman was picked up in the expansion draft along with Brad Shaw, Sylvain Turgeon, Mike Peluso, Mark Lamb and Ken Hammond. Andrew McBain came in as a
UFA and Brad Marsh was dealt here from Philadelphia.
The Senators had good stability in net with veteran goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz.
That first team was a special group. Sure, they went 10-70-4 the first season, but there weren't many nights they didn't work hard or give themselves a chance.
“I can honestly say on many nights our lack of depth showed up, and our overall skill level showed up, but I'm hard pressed to remember any games where our guys packed it in,” Sexton said. “They battled like hell every night. We didn't have the depth or the capabilities that most of our competitors did.”
Of course, the rules were a lot different back then. Each existing team was allowed to protect 14 players and two goalies. When Vegas came into the league in 2017, the rules of engagement were in favour of the Golden Knights — teams were allowed to either protect eight skaters and a goalie or seven forwards, three defencemen and a goalie.
Those same rules apply for the Kraken and give them a lot of roster flexibility.
Why have the rules changed so much to favour the expansion team? Maybe it's the fact Vegas paid US$500 million and Seattle has written a $650-million cheque to become a member of the league.
“If you look at the broader scope, when you look back then you had to be 33 or 34 years old to be a unrestricted free agent and clear movement was more restricted back then,” Sexton said. “Those changes have been made as a result of the collective bargaining process and I think that factored into setting the rules for those who are exempted.
“There was a real protectionist mindset going into that draft. Secondly, I don't really think there had been expansion in a long time and teams were reticent about losing players to expansion teams so they built the rules to protect themselves. Thirdly, I think the league learned that it would be better for everybody if expansion teams were competitive for the first two or three years and didn't have to struggle from the get-go.”
Sexton said he understands Vegas and the Kraken paid a massive amount of money, but the $50 million shelled out by the Senators and Lightning was pretty big money in that day and age.
“We paid the highest franchise fee in the history of the league at that time,” said Sexton. “I think teams around the league began to understand it's important for teams around the league to have strong expansion teams.”
START FROM THE NET OUT
If Sexton could offer the Kraken one piece advice heading into Wednesday's expansion draft, it would be to make sure they have stability in goal.
“It all starts with goaltending,” Sexton said Monday. “A terrific goaltender can make a mediocre team successful on lots of nights and the reverse isn't true. Secondly, you need to stick with the character, hockey sense and compete because the teams that have won over the years have proved that out.
“Thirdly, ice the best team that you can ice. There's far more player movement now than there has ever been. As a result, if they get off to a good start they'll be able to quickly build on that success. They won't have to wait four, five, six or seven years for just their draft picks to mature, develop and come along to help you win.”
Naturally, the Kraken will have no shortage of goalies to choose from and reports Monday indicated they've already agreed to a three-year, US$10.5-million contract with Florida Panthers UFA Chris Driedger. Seattle also has access to Montreal's Carey Price and Vancouver's Braden Holtby, both unprotected by their teams.