To say that Senators GM Pierre Dorion took some flak for trading Erik Karlsson would be putting it mildly.
To say that Senators GM Pierre Dorion took some flak for trading Erik Karlsson would be putting it mildly.
No one ever said that being an NHL general manager is easy.
The GM has to be able to see what a player is, what he'll be in the future and understand how that player's game will fit with all the other players you've assembled. Even if they pull that off (and no one ever does it perfectly), they can still be knocked off course by things out of their control like frugal owners, World Junior scandals, feuding spouses, or secretly recorded player conversations in an Uber cab.
Those are all just random hypotheticals, of course.
But a GM's every move is obviously heavily scrutinized, especially in Canadian markets, where hockey knowledge and passion are high.
Senators GM Pierre Dorion, appearing this week on The Cam and Strick Podcast, says the second-guessing turns to fury sometimes, even when drafting an outstanding young player like Brady Tkachuk.
"(Drafting Tkachuk) wasn't as bad as when we traded Karlsson, because I had death threats on that one," Dorion recalls. "But, like, people were mad because we didn't take... I don't want to name other names (it was Filip Zadina who went to Detroit). And I'm saying to myself like, hold on, wait and see. Like, we know what we're doing."
With reference to "death threats," that's another level – a ridiculous, criminal level. While it's certainly possible Dorion was dabbling in hyperbole, it clearly speaks to the local fury after Karlsson was shipped to California. He was one of the most exciting players in club history and a two-time Norris Trophy winner.
But it didn't take long to realize that the 2018 trade that led to "death threats" in Ottawa now looks like one of the best deals in franchise history. The Sens traded Karlsson and prospect Francis Perron and received the following:
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Dorion added a few details on why the trade was made, suggesting that Karlsson didn't want to re-sign in Ottawa, not wanting to be part of a rebuild.
The Sens' GM also chimed in on Mark Stone, who's about to play in his first Stanley Cup Final.
Dorion says he wanted to re-sign Stone in 2019, but owner Eugene Melnyk intervened. When Dorion recommended an eight year deal for Stone, Melnyk asked if there were any downsides to a deal like that. When he got his answer, Melnyk came to a sensible conclusion.
Dorion traded Stone and prospect Tobias Lindberg and received the following:
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Despite Dorion calling it his best day as a GM, Brannstrom was slow off the mark and it looked for a couple of years like a disastrous deal. But Brännström is only 23 and, game by game last season, a growing fan club has slowly begun to emerge. Stone, on the other hand, remains a fan favourite in Ottawa, but also has four years left on his contract and had two back surgeries this season.
All of it serves as a fine reminder that, whether it's praise or criticism, don't bother to rush to judgement on the actual day of the trade or the draft. Time will tell. It always does.