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Ottawa Senators: Pierre Dorion’s worst trades as General Manager

By Joshua Delorme

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Eugene Melynk and Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators attend the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Eugene Melynk and Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators attend the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Pierre Dorion has been General Manager of the Ottawa Senators for just over three years and has been part of 33 trades, some good and some not so good. This post will rank the General Manager’s top-5 worst trades.

For a complete list of Pierre Dorion’s trades and signings as General Manager of the Ottawa Senators check out his CapFriendly page!

Number 5 – Mark Stone & Tobias Lindberg for Oscar Lindberg, Erik Brannstrom, and 2020 second-round pick

Ottawa Senators
OTTAWA, ON – JANUARY 2: Mark Stone #61 of the Ottawa Senators celebrates his late third period game-tying goal against the Vancouver Canucks at Canadian Tire Centre on January 2, 2019 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images) /

I know what you’re thinking, this isn’t necessarily a bad trade for Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators. He moved out a player that was not re-signing with the organization and got a top prospect and a draft pick in return. Overall, fairly solid move. Let’s just ignore that he could not get a first-round pick for one of the best right-wingers in the game. I have a feeling it came down to a top prospect or a first-round draft pick.

Now, let’s move beyond the surface of the trade and look into a few different aspects of this trade. This trade qualifies on my list because of the series of events that led to this trade. When Mark Strone was a restricted free agent last summer, there were reports that the team and the player had gotten close to a long-term extension. These reports were later confirmed by Pierre Dorion himself when they announced the signing of a one-year contract with Mark Stone (which was ultimately going to walk him right to unrestricted free agency). In my mind, Eugene Melnyk and Pierre Dorion probably tried to squeeze every dollar they could out of Mark Stone in last summer’s negotiations which is what would have led to the long-term talks falling apart. That is the first reason this trade qualifies for this list.

The second reason this trade qualifies for this list is because Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators were once again in a position where they had to trade their best player. This trade is on this list not because of the return the Ottawa Senators received, but because of the circumstances that led to and surrounded the trade. The Ottawa Senators failed to get a long-term contract extension done with Mark Stone when they had the chance last summer, probably because of Melnyk’s penny-pinching ways, and from there the dollar amount simply kept getting higher and higher.

End result: a trade with a good return for the Ottawa Senators, but a bad trade because the team once again loses their best player.

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