What do you think the biggest off-season move was?

...and why.

There's a few fairly big moves to go through, which one will be the most successful?

1.Bryan Murray steps down - replaced internally, so there wasn't quite as much fanfare initially, but then people started to realize that even though Pierre Dorion came from within, he was a refreshing voice.  Immediately began his promised 'changes' with...

2.Firing Cameron et. all and bringing in Guy Boucher AND Marc Crawford.  A move that was perhaps initially balked at as well, due to Bruce Boudreau seeming to be a lock in Ottawa, but again, over time this has been seen as almost entirely positive.

3.Trading for Derek Brassard.  Ottawa boy comes home, complete with a beautiful playoff resume and more of a playmaking presence as well.  Dorion gave up Mika Zibanejad in the trade, something very people had an issue with, but also gave up a 2nd round pick in the package - which people were less enthused at.  Still, smart move by a new GM.  Shores up our Cs, gets a play-making left hander for Bobby Ryan and adds some playoff moxy.

4.Signs Mike Hoffman to a 4 year, 20.75 deal and keeps one of the better snipers in an Ottawa uniform for the foreseeable future at a solid AVV.  You could lump Cody Ceci into this as well, as that was more of a slam dunk signing, but still important.

5.Other.  Specify.

That's a really tough one. I voted for the trade because (IMO) this was a clear message sent to the other players -- that there are expectations (come to camp in shape, play hard, or play somewhere else), and also that the team is making a push for the playoffs *now*. The other huge change is the wholesale swap out of all the coaching (can even throw Richardson on there); we didn't just replace one inexperienced coach with another, we got two guys who have extensive experience as a head coach (NHL and Europe), one with a Cup ring; and then we added the assistants. It's a very big change in philosophy, if you ask me. And of course at the root of it all is the change at the top. Was Dorion more inclined to fight Melnyk on spending money on coaching? Or maybe Murray simply had no currency left (he sucked at picking coaches). What ever the reason, it clearly looks like Dorion is running a very different ship from Murray.

Maybe I should change my vote. I'm just not sure if these are "organic" changes (i.e. the obvious changes that had to be made, almost like an evolution of the club) or if these were specific changes that Dorion made.

Honestly I don't think any of these moves are going to have a big affect on the fortunes of the Sens, but having to pick...I'll go with coaches.

I see coaching staff being replaced from top to bottom as the biggest moves. I'd couple it with Murray stepping down, but this is a significant change in coaching staff.

Longest member I think last year was Rick Walmsley who I believe was hired for the 2010-2011 season. And then from 2011 we had Dave Cameron in the system with Luke Richardson coming in 2012. Now all of these guys are gone.

I think this represents the biggest change and hopes of turning our fortunes around. Being outshot every night was a recipe for disaster and I'm hoping that new philosophy and strategies can change the fortune. Also, we're getting two veteran coaches as opposed to the rookie coach philosophy that was running the place since 2009 (clouston, maclean, cameron)

I picked the coaching staff and maybe it's because I've bought into the hype of what Boucher can accomplish. Of course I doubt that actually happens if Murray doesn't step down but my close second is the trade because of the message it was ultimately sending to the players about puting in the effort and getting a left handed centre for Ryan. But you can't omit that getting Boucher might have played a big part in contract negotiation with Hoffman. Most were counting him as traded before the draft.

Coaching change played a big role in all decisions. They are all interrelated in my opinion.
Good topic

Hoff-Machine wrote:I see coaching staff being replaced from top to bottom as the biggest moves.  I'd couple it with Murray stepping down, but this is a significant change in coaching staff.

Longest member I think last year was Rick Walmsley who I believe was hired for the 2010-2011 season.  And then from 2011 we had Dave Cameron in the system with Luke Richardson coming in 2012.  Now all of these guys are gone.

I think this represents the biggest change and hopes of turning our fortunes around.  Being outshot every night was a recipe for disaster and I'm hoping that new philosophy and strategies can change the fortune.  Also, we're getting two veteran coaches as opposed to the rookie coach philosophy that was running the place since 2009 (clouston, maclean, cameron)

The bolded was the key for me. I think that's the biggest move with Brassard a 2nd. Or...was it Murray being replaced that changed the entire philosophy? If that's the case, I'd go with Dorion becoming GM, but my vote will go to the coaching. We needed this.

PTFlea wrote:

Hoff-Machine wrote:I see coaching staff being replaced from top to bottom as the biggest moves.  I'd couple it with Murray stepping down, but this is a significant change in coaching staff.

Longest member I think last year was Rick Walmsley who I believe was hired for the 2010-2011 season.  And then from 2011 we had Dave Cameron in the system with Luke Richardson coming in 2012.  Now all of these guys are gone.

I think this represents the biggest change and hopes of turning our fortunes around.  Being outshot every night was a recipe for disaster and I'm hoping that new philosophy and strategies can change the fortune.  Also, we're getting two veteran coaches as opposed to the rookie coach philosophy that was running the place since 2009 (clouston, maclean, cameron)

The bolded was the key for me.  I think that's the biggest move with Brassard a 2nd.  Or...was it Murray being replaced that changed the entire philosophy?  If that's the case, I'd go with Dorion becoming GM, but my vote will go to the coaching.  We needed this.

See that's it. It's all interrelated. If Murray is still aboard how many of these changes happen? So really how do you judge the impact? I guess it all comes down to which step in the process will have the biggest impact in terms of winning now.

Another aspect that I was thinking about this morning is this philosophy that Dorion is promoting every this off season. It's this "win now" mode and what brought it all about. Sure we all think we are getting better but I wonder if it's not backed by this sense of urgency. There's a couple of factories at play. One being Karlsson will be up for a new contract in 3 years and I think it's important that we show we are a regular contender. Another you have to think is what will likely be the emergence of Buffalo and Toronto in the next three years. They both have some amazing prospects due to drafting early in the draft and it makes sense to think they will be come competitive teams limiting our chances to win a cup. So is Dorion swing a window open that we have to take (say for the next 5 years) and then reevaluate? Let's not kid ourselves we have to hope that this core and our blue chip prospect pan out as hoped for us to compete with what might likely pan out in those two markets. It might get very competitive in a short order.

Flo The Action wrote:Another aspect that I was thinking about this morning is this philosophy that Dorion is promoting every this off season. It's this "win now" mode and what brought it all about. Sure we all think we are getting better but I wonder if it's not backed by this sense of urgency. There's a couple of factories at play. One being Karlsson will be up for a new contract in 3 years and I think it's important that we show we are a regular contender. Another you have to think is what will likely be the emergence of Buffalo and Toronto in the next three years. They both have some amazing prospects due to drafting early in the draft and it makes sense to think they will be come competitive teams limiting our chances to win a cup. So is Dorion swing a window open that we have to take (say for the next 5 years) and then reevaluate? Let's not kid ourselves we have to hope that this core and our blue chip prospect pan out as hoped for us to compete with what might likely pan out in those two markets. It might get very competitive in a short order.

was this done on a mobile?

I think by far biggest reason is Karlsson nearing UFA status n 3 years. Guy will command top $ in the league and any hopes for us in retaining him will require a playoff run of some sort. Also I was glad to hear that dorion didn't like hearing in exit interviews that the team thought they'd be good in 2-3 years time....that's been the message since like 2009. Enough perpetual re-tooling, time for action.

It's time for action, but karlsson has to play better than he did last year. I'd say he was a main culprit. Points are great, but you must become a better defender

I went with "other": being the changes to this website. A tectonic shift for the internet.

Hoff-Machine wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:Another aspect that I was thinking about this morning is this philosophy that Dorion is promoting every this off season. It's this "win now" mode and what brought it all about. Sure we all think we are getting better but I wonder if it's not backed by this sense of urgency. There's a couple of factories at play. One being Karlsson will be up for a new contract in 3 years and I think it's important that we show we are a regular contender. Another you have to think is what will likely be the emergence of Buffalo and Toronto in the next three years. They both have some amazing prospects due to drafting early in the draft and it makes sense to think they will be come competitive teams limiting our chances to win a cup. So is Dorion swing a window open that we have to take (say for the next 5 years) and then reevaluate? Let's not kid ourselves we have to hope that this core and our blue chip prospect pan out as hoped for us to compete with what might likely pan out in those two markets. It might get very competitive in a short order.

was this done on a mobile?

I think by far biggest reason is Karlsson nearing UFA status n 3 years.  Guy will command top $ in the league and any hopes for us in retaining him will require a playoff run of some sort.  Also I was glad to hear that dorion didn't like hearing in exit interviews that the team thought they'd be good in 2-3 years time....that's been the message since like 2009.  Enough perpetual re-tooling, time for action.  

My iPad has a mind of its own for certain words....


Is that what the players said? That we'd be better in two three years? Wow, that's a lot of giving up. Great that we did what we did. I still think we need a couple of upgrades but no doubt we are a better team.

I changed my mind. Coaching.