STAIOS: `THERE'S GOING TO BE CHANGE, THERE ALWAYS IS'
Senators GM talks about the season that was and what's to come for his struggling team
A day after the players had emptied their lockers, Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios sat behind a microphone and tried to make sense out of a disappointing NHL season that made no sense.
This year's version of the Senators, who finished with a record of 37-41-4 for 78 points, was somehow worse than the team that made a playoff charge the previous season (39-35-8, 86 points).
There is always player turnover — flashy winger Alex Debrincat was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings last summer — but the thought was a full season with defenceman Jakob Chychrun, the signing of winger Vladimir Tarasenko and another year of maturation from the young core would move the needle up.
It just didn't happen.
So Friday morning, Staios, who took over the duties as GM after the early-season firing of Pierre Dorion, talked about the season that was and what the team is thinking looking forward.
Here's what he had to say:
On instilling stability and confidence in the team
“I feel confident we were able to establish some of that. It was the work on the backs of Jacques Martin (who replaced DJ Smith as the head coach in December) and the coaching staff. I do feel (Martin) made a significant impact. When you're evaluating coaches, you probably look at the win-loss record first. But I think if you watched our games, how we played and grew as a team under Jacques, he had a significant impact, not only in our stability, but also the professionalism, the detail and the approach to the game.”
On what he took from talking to the players during Thursday's exit meetings
“We have an incredibly well-intended group of players. I believe they care.
“A lot of our discussion was on how they continue to grow not only as a player, but as a teammate, as a leader for all of our players.
“My expectations are what I was seeing a bit more of at the end of the season, as far as team play, details and habits. The only way we can get to the expectations we have for ourselves is by looking after that.”
On coming up short this season, whether it was a personnel issue or consistency on the ice
“A bit of both. Any time you go through a situation like this, you're on the job for 31/2 months, you try and have an impact in certain areas as much as you can. But it was a very important year for evaluation, on and off the ice, and how we're going to approach it moving forward. There's massive potential for internal growth with this group. Saying that, it doesn't mean there aren't areas that need to be addressed. That's my job.”
How much change fans can expect during the summer
“There's going to be change, there always is. We'll look at every opportunity. If we're going to make changes, they have to be with the right intentions, bring in the right people for the right positions. We're working toward building a culture here. And that doesn't start and stop with the players.”
On if any of the team's potential unrestricted or restricted free agents were told Thursday they won't be back
“No. Yesterday wasn't the time. We had open and candid discussions with our players.”
On where the team is in the search for a head coach and the timeline
“It's ongoing. We have spoken to a couple of people. We have a longer list. We're making sure we take the appropriate amount of time to be able to look at everybody. If we feel like we have a perfect candidate, we would move on it.”
On whether the Senators would consider Daniel Alfredsson (who stepped in as an assistant to Martin) as the next head coach
“I had a great conversation with Alfie. I can say he's not going to be under consideration for the head coaching job. I think he believes if he does continue on the coaching path, he'll need a bit more time.”
On the other coaches on the Senators' staff
“Jacques is going to continue with the organization in a consultant role. I'm allowing the other coaches the time to let things unfold.”
On specific positional concerns, whether there's an area the team needs to be better
“There are a number of areas where we can get better. If I were to talk specifically, I'll bring up the goaltending. I believe the goaltenders we have are better than their numbers. The question is do you address that because they had off years? It goes back to Jacques and the coaching staff and laying the foundation of how to play the right way, how to act like an Ottawa Senator, the details and the habits. It allowed us a chance to evaluate all areas. I'm also excited about the internal growth of this group moving forward.”
On committing to goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who has four years left on his contract, being back next season
“We'll look at everything, not specific to Korpi and his contract, but I think he'll perform at a better rate next year.”
On whether the team would open contract talks with defenceman Jakob Chychrun, whose name surfaced in the days and weeks leading into the trade deadline
“He's a heckuva player. We saw his talents. When you talk about the buzz at the trade deadline, names of good hockey players often come up. I won't talk in this forum about contracts, status or what we're doing. We think highly of Jakob and a lot of our players. We'll look at all areas to see how it all fits.”
On his biggest disappointment after we saw the good and the bad this season
“We saw when we played to our potential, we could be a very good team, in particular against some of the contending teams. As hard as it is, (the players) need to go through these scenarios and situations and years where it's utter disappointment. It'll drive them to get better. They have to go through a year where there is conflict and there is turmoil. They need to learn how to deal with that. As hard as the season was for us as managers and for our fans and for our players, it might be the most important year to building this program to hold our team to where we need to get to. I asked the players (Thursday) to self reflect. That's important to be able to do and to do it honestly. You don't have a chance to do that when things are going really well.”
On centre Tim Stutzle looking frustrated at times and taking the next step forward
“When you're a top talent like that, you feel like you can make an impact on every shift. So when it doesn't happen, that's the frustration. That'll be the goal for Tim. We know it's coming. How can we support and expedite that growth, that maturity? It does take time, but I've talked to him specifically about that. His intentions are to go out there and help the Ottawa Senators on every single shift and use his God-given talents to be able to do it. So when it doesn't happen for him, there's some frustration. He's going to learn how to channel that in the right way.”
On what he thought about the job Martin did as interim head coach
“He provided everything we needed, as far as where we were as a group, he brought that foundational piece and I believe it's going to be lasting for this group moving forward. He brings poise, professionalism, details and wisdom.”
On the mental state of injured centre Josh Norris
“He's going to be ready to go. Josh is incredibly resilient young man. All our players go through injuries at certain times. And Josh is dealing with another significant one so early in his career, but he's doing very well with it. Probably because he's gone through it already, he knows the routine, unfortunately. But I expect Josh to be 100 per cent healthy, both physically and mentally. The injury is probably less important at certain times when you go through long rehabs. Having the mental support from us as an organization is going to be important.”
On the importance of hiring a bilingual head coach
“Hopefully one day I'll be able to answer your questions (in French). It's important for us as an organization (to have bilingual employees), it would certainly be a factor in it. But I don't think it can be the major factor. There's a long list of coaches who are very good coaches that come in and coach the Ottawa Senators. What we're really trying to do is find the right person for the job at this time with our group. We've had time to evaluate our group on where we think they are and trying to find that personality and that style of coach. If he's bilingual, that checks another box for us.”
As hard as it is, (the players) need to go through these scenarios and situations and years where it's utter disappointment. It'll drive them to get better.
On the philosophy heading into the NHL draft
“We look for specific things to start our evaluation on. We value character and hockey sense. We have an incredible group of amateur scouts that have really been grinding it out. I'm looking forward to getting down to the final lists. We have our meetings here in a couple of weeks. As far as philosophy, there might be a time in the draft where you look positional. But certainly at the top of the board, we're looking at best player (available).”
On the pressure that goes with improving the team going forward
“I don't feel pressure to try and do something. If I felt pressure to do something, I would have made a couple of trades at the trade deadline that at the end of the day wouldn't have made sense, but at least I would had something to talk to you about. I'm not going to do anything just to do it. It has to be the right fit. We've worked diligently as a staff to identify where we need to get better. We've identified the list of players that may be available, either via free agency or trade. And that'll be our approach.”
On considering buyouts this summer
“I would consider anything. But I don't believe there's any consideration for that for this group at this time.”