Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – Sleepless in Seattle for the Winter Classic episode on the Ottawa Senators.
** NHLRumors.com transactions
Marek: “But what I look at on Sunday was, this is the, this is the cement hardening. This is the concrete hardening around (Steve) Staios and (Michael) Andlauer, with the firm grip on the steering wheel of the Ottawa Senators.
The only thing we’re, one of the only things left here now as you mentioned is the coaching situation.”
Friedman: “Yeah.”
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Marek: “But as far as the team being run, that’s done. The idea that oh, you know, we’re gonna make our decisions at the end of the year, there’s gonna be more of a thorough search and we all know what happened with you know, Pierre Dorian and everything that’s that’s gone on. To me. Sunday was a cementing of these two guys, have their hands on the wheel.
That’s it. I don’t know about the, I’m not so sure about the unexpected. That’s, that’s the only thing that I’m not sure. I don’t think there’s gonna be a massive change of direction for the Ottawa Senators. I think they’ve identified their core and they know who their team is and where they’re heading in. They’re going to build and complement that core.
Friedman: “You know, I don’t in theory, I don’t disagree with you. Here’s where I do disagree with you. At the beginning of the year, what did we think? Dorian, (D.J.) Smith all season.
Marek: “Yeah.”
Friedman: “Now I heard when that penalty was coming down for the draft pick, I did hear, lookout. That, that could lead to a change.
With everything was, we’re gonna hang on we’re gonna hang on, we’re gonna hang on, until they just decided we can’t hang on anymore. And, you know, with, with the GM search, even though some people predicted it properly from the beginning like Ron, I think a lot of us were expecting it wasn’t going to happen, now. So when I say, you can expect the unexpected, I think that they are very good at saying, this is what we’re planning but if things change, we’re going to adapt fast.”
Marek: “For sure. For sure.”
Friedman: “So that says to me that, someone’s gonna hear this and gonna say you’re calling them liars. I’m not calling them liars. I think that you, they set an expectation and a path and they almost lure us to sleep. And then Whoa, the path changes. I mean, you just have to be prepared.
Now. I agree with you. I think they’re looking at this like this is our team for a long time. And whoever they hire as their coach, they’re going to be hopeful that this is their coach for a long time.
And you know, you mentioned and we’ve talked about this, identifying the core. Like I think they’re, they’re, they’re identified their core too, and I think it’s at that age group it’s (Brady) Tkachuk. It’s (Tim) Stutzle. It’s (Drake) Batterson. It’s (Josh) Norris.
Marek: “(Jake) Sanderson.”
Friedman: “It’s Sanderson. It’s (Jacob) Chychrun and it’s ..”
Marek: “(Thomas) Chabot.”
Friedman: “Chabot, who I do think they consider as part of their core, but the only thing is just as someone looking at it from outside, I think we shouldn’t be surprised anymore of Ottawa calls audibles.
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Like I don’t think they’re looking to make big changes to their core. I think they’re looking to do some things around it and bolster it. However, I think what we’ve learned right now is, maybe they might proclaim one thing, but it doesn’t mean it’s gonna go that way.”
