Ryan Bowness didn’t stay on the market for long.
The former Ottawa Senators executive landed on his feet this week with the New York Islanders, who named him Assistant GM and Director of Player Personnel.
Bowness joins the Islanders after three seasons in Ottawa’s front office. Originally hired by former Senators GM Pierre Dorion in 2022, the up-and-coming young executive served as Assistant GM for two seasons before being promoted to Associate General Manager in 2024-25. The 41-year-old was also GM of the AHL's Belleville Senators.
The Senators did not issue an official statement regarding his departure in May or the reasons for the front-office change.
Last month, Staios hired 52-year-old Matt Turek to take over at least part of Bowness’ portfolio, most notably as GM in Belleville. Staios and Turek worked together on Michael Andlauer's OHL team in Hamilton. Most recently, Turek was the club's GM, now located in Brantford.
The Islanders also did some recent executive house cleaning, replacing 82-year-old Lou Lamoriello with new GM Mathieu Darche. With the appointment this week, Bowness becomes one of Darche's first hires in a similar role to the one he had here.
Prior to Bowness' stint in Ottawa, the Halifax native spent six seasons in the Pittsburgh Penguins scouting department, including a stint as Director of Pro Scouting. He won a Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2017.
Before that, Bowness worked in the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers organization for seven years, holding a variety of roles including Pro Scout, Manager of Hockey Operations, and Manager of Player Development.
Bowness was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2001 NHL Draft. He played junior hockey in the OHL with the Brampton Battalion and Oshawa Generals, then continued his playing career at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
Ryan is the son of Rick Bowness, a longtime NHL coach who previously served as head coach of both the Islanders and Senators. In fact, Rick was the first head coach in modern Senators history when they returned to the NHL in 1992.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
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