Lukas Bernasiewicz
It has been a horrible week for the Ottawa Senators.
Just last week one of their young star players, the currently unsigned Shane Pinto, was suspended for 41 games due to sports gambling and on Wednesday the team was punished for being untruthful to the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade that was made between the clubs in 2022.
The punishment for the team will be forfeiting a first-round pick in either the 2024, 2025, or 2026 NHL draft.
Due to all of these events that happened under Pierre Dorion's watch, the team parted ways with their former General Manager and stepping into his place will be Oakville’s Steve Staios under the position of interim General Manager.
With Staios being named the team's president just three weeks ago, he and owner Michael Andlauer now have an incredibly tall task ahead of them.
The two have to decide which year they would like to give up their first-round pick, decide how the club will sign Shane Pinto once he returns from his suspension, and also look for another General Manager to hire so Staios can focus on his presidential duties.
However if the team does not find a suitable candidate for the GM job, Staios may have the interim title stripped and become the Senators’ full-time General Manager and President.
All while making sure that the team on the ice is competitive enough to bring people to home games and fight for a potential playoff spot.
The Senators are currently 4-4-0 after playing just eight games and are fully capable of making a run at the playoffs with their young group of players.
However, recent injuries to their defensive core may impact the team tremendously over the next month.
Staios and Andlauer find themselves in a troubling position to say the least and will look to turn this ship around fast before something worse possibly comes their way.
