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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, 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)
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.

Number 4: Mika Zibanejad & 2018 second-round pick for Derick Brassard & 2018 seventh-round pick

OTTAWA, ON – APRIL 07: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the Ottawa Senators plays in the game against the Florida Panthers at Canadian Tire Centre on April 7, 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/NHLI via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON – APRIL 07: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the Ottawa Senators plays in the game against the Florida Panthers at Canadian Tire Centre on April 7, 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Next on the Worst Trades by Ottawa Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion countdown is the General Manager’s third trade every completed. Just over three months after taking over as General Manager of the team, Dorion shipped out a young, top-6 centreman and a second-round pick for an older centreman in Derick Brassard.

There are two aspects of this trade that worry me the most. The first is that the management team clearly felt that Mika Zibanejad was not a top-line centreman in the NHL. The young centre was coming off back to back 20 goal+ seasons and was just coming off a 51-point career year, but Pierre Dorion shipped him out for an ageing centreman. The fact that the management team was not worried about giving up on a 23-year-old worries me. I’m worried because this management staff has made repeated errors in judgements when acquiring players from other teams. It is no secret that the Ottawa Senators have one of the smallest staffs in the NHL, but they get by because of their unbelievable track record with amateur scouting and amateur drafting. On the other hand, the professional scouts have led to errors in player acquisition in the past.

The second aspect of this trade that worries me is the trend that started with the trade. The Ottawa Senators have been part of a few trades in the Pierre Dorion era where they give up a draft pick or an extra asset for the other team to pay the player’s signing bonuses. This trade was completed not long after Derick Brassard was paid his 2-million dollar signing bonus by the New York Rangers. The second-round pick that Dorion added was clearly compensation for holding up the trade until the signing bonus had been paid. Oh, and let’s not forget that the Ottawa Senators were the team that gave up the younger asset in this trade!

End result: FAIL! I don’t know which other way to put it. This General Manager moved out a young centreman that has proven to be a very good top-6 centre AND a second-round pick for a year and a half of an older centre in Derick Brassard. (Please don’t come at me with the return the Ottawa Senators got when they shipped Brassard to the Penguins, I’d still rather have Zibanejad on this team instead of any of the assets that came from Pittsburgh!)

Number 3: Erik Karlsson & Francis Perron for Chris Tierney, Dylan Demelo, Rudolfs Balcers, Josh Norris, 2020 first-round pick & 2 second-round picks

OTTAWA, ON – MARCH 24: Ottawa Senators Defenceman Erik Karlsson (65) waits for a face-off during first period National Hockey League action between the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators on March 24, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON – MARCH 24: Ottawa Senators Defenceman Erik Karlsson (65) waits for a face-off during first period National Hockey League action between the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators on March 24, 2018, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Anytime an organization trades away their best player, and arguably the best player in franchise history, everyone and their mother knows that there is no way for the team to win the trade or even get equal value for the player. For that reason, and for that reason alone this trade makes the countdown!

Now, apart from the mere fact that the Ottawa Senators somehow thought that it was best to trade away the best player to ever wear the sweater (sorry, I’m still a little sour over this trade!) let’s look at the return the Senators got from San Jose.

Chris Tierney and Dylan Demelo came over as the only bodies with NHL experience in this trade (which was something Pierre Dorion said was important to him). In their first season with the Ottawa Senators, I think it’s fair to say that both players surpassed fans’ expectations. Dylan Demelo played most of his minutes with Thomas Chabot on the top pair and did not really seem out of place too often. He has a realistic shot at becoming for Thomas Chabot what Marc Methot was for Erik Karlsson.

The 25-year-old Chris Tierney had a career year in Ottawa, in what was his fourth full-time season in the NHL, with 9 goals and 39 assists. Tierney had an interesting role with the Ottawa Senators last season. Interesting because he didn’t really have a set role for the entire season. He spent most of the season playing centre in the top-9, but on some nights found himself playing the role of fourth-line centre. It will be interesting to see what DJ Smith has in store for him this coming season.

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Then there was Rudolfs ‘Rudy’ Balcers. The young Latvian forward was coming off his first season in North America at the time of the trade. The former fifth-round draft pick put up impressive numbers in his first season in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda. That was followed up with solid production in Belleville this past season where Rudy notched 17 goals and 14 assists in 43 games. He also tallied 5 goals and 9 assists in 36 games this past season with the Ottawa Senators. Balcers should develop into a very solid and reliable top-9 forward for this team.

Josh Norris had his season in Michigan cut short after suffering an injury during the World Juniors this past winter. Before his injury he had successfully established himself as a top forward for the Michigan Wolverines, tallying 10 goals and 9 assists while only appearing in 17 games. He was a key piece for the Ottawa Senators in this trade and has all the makings of becoming an elite third-line centre or a very capable second-line centre in the National Hockey League. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s Brady Tkachuk’s best friend!

Then there are the three draft picks. One second-round pick in this past draft that was used to move up to select Mads Sogaard, and two to come in next year’s entry draft. Chances are that San Jose will be a playoff team again next season, so fans should realistically expect the first-round pick to come in the 20-31 range. But hey, it’s still a first-round pick!

End result: The Ottawa Senators clearly went for quantity over quality in this trade, which is fine. Not great, but fine. This trade qualifies for this countdown for the very simple reason that the Senators traded away the best defenceman in the NHL and did not get an A+ asset in return, just a lot of middle of the pack assets. Again, fine but not great.

Number 2: Mike Hoffman, Cody Donaghey & 2020 fifth-round pick for Mikkel Boedker, Julius Bergman & 2020 sixth-round pick

TAMPA, FL – MARCH 13: Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning watches Mike Hoffman #68 of the Ottawa Senators celebrate a goal during the second period at Amalie Arena on March 13, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL – MARCH 13: Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning watches Mike Hoffman #68 of the Ottawa Senators celebrate a goal during the second period at Amalie Arena on March 13, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images) /

When Mike Hoffman was traded to the San Jose Sharks there was no real surprise that the scoring forward had been moved. There were confirmed reports of a broken locker room and Mike Hoffman seemed to have been at least partly responsible for some of it. When it all came public, Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators really did not have a choice but to trade him. And every General Manager in the NHL knew it, too.

So, why does this trade fall to second on the countdown? It’s very simple, Pierre Dorion got taught a lesson on how not to make trades in the NHL. The offer that he accepted from the Sharks was simply subpar and laughable. It became even more laughable when the San Jose Sharks immediately turned around and shipped him to the Florida Panthers. There were reports, make that confirmed reports, that the Florida Panthers had offered more than what the Ottawa Senators accepted from San Jose for Hoffman, but Pierre Dorion was determined not to send him within the division. How did that work out for you, Pierre?

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It is also worth mentioning that Pierre Dorion was determined to get a roster player in return for Mike Hoffman. The offer that the Panthers had presented was made up of draft picks (you know, that valuable commodity that teams love to amass when they’re in a self-imposed rebuild!) but Pierre Dorion wanted to save face or something so he wanted a roster player to come in and take Hoffman’s spot on the roster. In comes Mikkel Boedker. Once again I find myself having issues with the job the professional scouts have done. Everyone knew that Boedker was definitely not going to be able to replace a fraction of Hoffman’s goal production. It was just a bad trade, made even worse when fans realized they could have gotten some pretty decent draft picks instead of an ageing forward whose production had fallen off a cliff.

End result: Instead of accepting picks from Florida because Dorion did not want to trade Hoffman into the division he settled for a mediocre trade offer and then had to sit through the humiliation of watching Doug Wilson get the better of him by acquiring more than he had to give up for Mike Hoffman. Essentially, Doug Wilson used the Ottawa Senators and Pierre Dorion to rid himself of Boedker’s 4-million dollar cap hit in return for three draft picks. Oh, but not to worry! Pierre Dorion finally managed to get that second-round pick that Florida had offered for Mike Hoffman, it’s the 2019 second that the Sharks sent to Ottawa as part of the Erik Karlsson trade!

Number 1: Kyle Turris, Andrew Hammond, Shane Bowers, 2019 first-round pick & 2019 third-round pick for Matt Duchene

DETROIT, MI – FEBRUARY 14: Matt Duchene #95 of the Ottawa Senators gets set for the face-off against the Detroit Red Wings during an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on February 14, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit defeated Ottawa 3-2. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI – FEBRUARY 14: Matt Duchene #95 of the Ottawa Senators gets set for the face-off against the Detroit Red Wings during an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on February 14, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit defeated Ottawa 3-2. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators mistakenly believed they could improve on their previous season of success by adding Matt Duchene. Pierre Dorion said at the time of the acquisition that he felt adding Matt Duchene helped cement the Ottawa Senators as true contenders and a team that could make some damage in the playoffs. Well, the exact opposite happened.

Pierre Dorion gave up a lot, and I mean a lot, to bring in Matt Duchene. Shane Bowers was the team’s first-round selection for the previous year. Andrew Hammond was a contract/cap dump by the team (yes, another one of those), Kyle Turris was shipped to Nashville for a top defence prospect, a potential third-line winger, and a second-round pick. The Ottawa Senators would have been better off just sending Kyle Turris to Nashville themselves and not worry about bringing in Matt Duchene. It would have definitely been better that way!

Oh, I almost forgot. That 2019 first-round pick was supposed to be the 2018 first-round pick. Thankfully, Pierre Dorion had the smarts to protect that first-round pick if the team missed the playoffs. The Ottawa Senators decided to keep their pick last season and select Brady Tkachuk with the fourth overall selection. Somehow, the team thought they were going to be more competitive this season and would be giving up a pick a little later in the draft.

I seriously do not understand how you can sit there and decide that it’s a good idea to let go of your first-round pick when you’re entering a rebuild! They knew they were going to trade Erik Karlsson. They had to have known that there was a good chance they would lose one of, if not both, Matt Duchene and Mark Stone. HOW COULD THEY HAVE THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE MORE COMPETITIVE?!?!?

Thankfully the Hockey Gods finally took a little pitty on the fans of the Ottawa Senators. The team finished dead last in the standings this past season and every time Sens fans closed their eyes to go to sleep at night all they could see was Joe Sakic laughing and relishing at the opportunity to pick first overall. Again, thankfully the Hockey Gods pitied us a little as the Colorado Avalanche lost the draft lottery and the pick fell from first to fourth. In the end, no harm no foul. Brady Tkachuk or Bowen Byram. I personally prefer having Brady Tkachuk on this team than Byram. But I can definitely say that my thoughts would be different if the Avalanche had walked away with Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko.

End result: Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators went for a home run but instead found themselves fouling out. It sometimes seems like there is nobody thinking long-term in this organization. Every move is either made to save money or to put out a fire or more often than not for both those reasons! The unfortunate part for Ottawa Senators fans is that we truly can’t judge Pierre Dorion as a General Manager because you have to expect that more often than not his hands are tied by the frugality of the owner. I’m not going to sit here and say that he would be doing a much better job if he didn’t have as many monetary restrictions placed on him, I just don’t know what he could do as a General Manager not stuck with a frugal owner.

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Is Pierre Dorion the worst General Manager in the NHL? I can’t sit here and give a definite yes or no answer. I think, like most General Managers in the history of the National Hockey League, he has some trades and/or signings that he would like a do-over on. I also think it is hard to judge him fully because of who owns the team. Is Pierre Dorion really doing everything he can for the team? Could he be doing more but the owner won’t let him? I’d be very curious to know if there are concrete trades or signings that Pierre Dorion wanted to complete but Melnyk said no because of financial reasons.

It should also be noted and mentioned that Pierre Dorion has done a fairly good job of moving on from players before they truly fall off a cliff. Moving Derick Brassard and Kyle Turris when he did now seems like a good thing (even if Kyle Turris was part of that disastrous Matt Duchene trade). I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue saying it, not everything that Pierre Dorion has done as General Manager of the Ottawa Senators has been terrible. He has done some good things. It just seems that the bad moves are always worse than the good moves. Maybe that’s just the pessimistic side of the Senators fan inside of me coming out. But then again, this team’s history is what created and nurtured this pessimistic side of me!

Sens fans, what do you think of the five trades outlined? Would you rank them any different? Would you include another one instead? How would you rank Pierre Dorion’s job as General Manager of the Ottawa Senators? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below!

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