Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios held a mid-season, State of the Union address with the media on Thursday morning.
Ottawa Senators' GM Steve Staios held a news conference on Thursday morning, giving a mid-season update on the state of the embattled franchise. Here are the highlights:
- Staios says he's in the process of searching for the next head coach. The GM says he has a picture in his mind of a coach he'd like to see. He didn't say as much, but it definitely sounded like Jacques Martin isn't in his plans for this fall. To this point, no one had really talked about whether Martin was a candidate to continue. Or if he even wants to. The plan is for the 71-year-old to guide the Senators for at least the rest of this season.
- Staios says he's done a lot of talking with other teams. In a perfect world, he'd like to add leadership, experience and guys who are 200-foot players.
- Staios says he's impressed with winger Vladimir Tarasenko, who's about to become a UFA. But no contract talks yet
- Staios hasn't spoken to Alex Formenton. He says any questions about Formenton or the 2018 World Junior team should be directed to the league.
- He's been very encouraged over the last five games that they may be able to go on a run with this group, but he's also planning to make decisions with the long-term in mind.
- Staios sounds like he's a fan of defenceman Jakob Chychrun. He says he's disappointed that Chychrun's name is out there. "He's a great player for us and loves Ottawa."
- He doesn't dismiss carrying three top-paid defencemen, but "time will tell."
- Amateur scout Don Boyd is the acting lead when it comes to amateur scouting.
The Senators have won three of their past four games, taking seven of a possible eight points. They get a huge test on Thursday night when they host the top-ranked Boston Bruins.