Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios will try and bring in new pieces this summer, but there's one piece he can't get wrong.
Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios has many important decisions to make this summer. And he knows full well he can’t bring back the same lineup in the hopes this season was just an aberration.
Though he wears two hats, his work this summer will be primarily centred around his role as General Manager. Staios is faced with tasks such as his first draft in June, along with his first courtship and free agency period in late June and July. He has holes to fill and decisions to make at every position.
However, regardless of how well he does in addressing those issues, none of it will matter if he fails at the most important task.
Staios needs to deliver a head coach who can take this team to the next level and beyond. There is no substitute for talent on the ice. However, the Senators need only look around the league to see how important great coaching can be.
Looking within their own division, it would be hard to argue the importance of Bruce Cassidy during his time with the Bruins. He led them to the Cup finals once. His successor, Jim Montgomery came in and led them to the President’s Trophy. Even in a season where Patrice Bergeron retired, the Bruins are still atop the Atlantic Division.
Do they have talent? Of course, they do. To be able to harness it and have a seamless product, despite major turnover, is a tribute to the coach and the structure they have in place.
Jon Cooper has seen more than his share of turnover in his 12 years behind the Tampa Bay bench. However, his whole career as a coach – both minor league and the NHL – has a winning theme with six championships to his credit.
Cassidy went to Vegas, who had missed the playoffs the previous year, and took the team to the Stanley Cup championship.
Peter DeBoer has a similar winning track record to Cooper having won an OHL Championship twice, a Memorial Cup once, having lost in the Stanley Cup finals twice with two different teams and in the conference finals twice as well.
Looking at this year’s surprises, few expected Philadelphia, Washington and Nashville to be sitting in playoff spots with 10 games left in their seasons.
John Tortorella may be brutal interview, but few could argue that he knows how to create an identity and standards for his players. Despite losing his starting goalie mid-season, the Flyers are right in the thick of it.
Spencer Carbery has a team in Washington that most saw as being in their greatest hits era, whose primary goal was to get Alex Ovechkin to 895. Yet they sit in control of their own destiny. Carbery’s resume isn’t as distinguished as others in this article. That said, neither is his roster.
Andrew Brunette did a great job in Florida for one season before landing in Nashville two seasons later. The belief was that the Preds would be sellers at the deadline, including Juuse Saros. Instead, Brunette is replicating what he did in Florida, including an 18-game point streak.
Obviously, none of these coaches is a candidate to be in Ottawa next year. But except for Cooper, every one of them was available to the Senators at some point in the rebuild. Perhaps under previous ownership, it wasn’t realistic to recruit them.
That said, the notion that the Senators roster is the sole reason why they're where they are today is somewhat weakened when you see what other coaches have done with their rosters.
It takes a Formula One car to win a Championship. The same can be said about a great driver.