Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion could be on the hot seat at the end of the season. If he is not already. There are expectations now in Ottawa. A new ownership group in town. Not to mention Shane Pinto remains unsigned.
The way Pierre Dorion has handled the situation had not been ideal. We here at NHLRumors.com have documented the saga and how the Senators are going at it the wrong way when it comes to signing Pinto.
Ottawa Senators Took Wrong Approach With Shane Pinto
Instead of signing Pinto first and worrying about fitting under the cap later, Dorion used the cap space he had to sign Vladimir Tarasenko, acquire Dominik Kubalik (no retention), and re-sign Travis Hamonic.
The whole league knows they need to clear cap space and are willing to do them no favors whatsoever. And Dorin did this on his own accord by backing himself into it by the way mismanaging the salary cap.
TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button was on Sportscenter with Jay Onrait in Insider Trading After Dark and was asked about this very topic.
Jay Onrait: “Pierre Dorion is not in comfortable shoes right now, he’s in uncomfortable shoes. Because everybody knows yes to move cap space to get chained Pinto sign. Everybody knows no one around the league is going to do him any favors.
They’re gonna make it difficult for him. But as time goes on, it seems like it’s just gonna get worse and worse. Has he backed himself into a corner? Should he have already made the deal? Even though it probably wasn’t necessarily favorable. It’s not like it’s gonna get better as time goes on.”
Button: “So I’m gonna answer the question. Yeah, he’s backed himself and he’s created his own problem. Yeah, he knew how good Shane Pinto is, and you know what he’s gonna bring to your team. And this isn’t something that just popped up out of thin air and has presented itself.
NHL Rumors: Shane Pinto May Have To Take Less To Sign With Ottawa
So yeah. Now he’s put himself in a box. He’s put himself in a corner. He can’t sign Shane Pinto because he doesn’t have cap room. Well, no kidding. You have to trade somebody and create that cap space.
Geez, tell me something I don’t know. But for Pierre Dorion, this is a problem created by himself. Yeah, there is no excuse for it. The manager is responsible for the cap, how you allocate it, how you want to do it, and everything where your money goes to certain players.
When you already know how good Shane Pinto is. And you find yourself with this problem. Self-inflicted wound. There. Yeah, you’re right. Do you think any team is going to try to help them? And I’d be really careful about trading Mathieu Joseph.
Well, are you serious about winning? Because Mathieu Joseph will help you win. Yeah, that’s how I feel that type of player, you know what will happen? They’ll be looking for that type of player down the line. Pierre Dorion created this problem. He’s put himself in a box of his own doing.”