Pierre Dorion’s departure from the Ottawa Senators has given way to numerous rumors about his possible successor.
On Wednesday, Senators president of hockey operations Steve Staios assured at a press conference that he would take the time to “evaluate our options and see who would be available for this position.”
Here is a list of four candidates whose names are currently making the rounds in rumors.
Matthew Darche
Mathieu Darche archive photo, Martin Chevalier
Darche’s name is one of those that comes up most often when a general manager loses his job in the NHL. TVA Sports colleague Renaud Lavoie also mentioned on Wednesday that the Quebecer is one of the most logical candidates to replace Dorion.
“The logic is that Mathieu Darche gets there,” he emphasized during the JiC show. Everyone you talk to in the National League always says the same thing, that the Senators’ next general manager is Mathieu Darche. He knows Michael Andlauer very well. (…) The name Mathieu comes up all the time. »
Darche and Andlaeur’s relationship dates back to when Darche played for the Hamilton Bulldogs, a team owned by the Senators’ new majority shareholder.
Peter Chiarelli
Ian Kucerak/Edmonton Sun
As surprising as it may seem to some fans, the name Chiarelli is one of the names that has appeared most often in rumors in the last few hours. The 59-year-old hockey player is currently the Vice President of Hockey Operations for the St. Louis Blues.
Before joining the Blues, he was general manager of the Boston Bruins and then the Edmonton Oilers. He also won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011.
For Chiarelli, this would be a return to Ottawa, as it all began for him with the Senators in 1999, when he was named the team’s general counsel before being named assistant general manager in 2004.
Jason Spezza
Jason Spezza Photo Bruce Bennett/Getty Images/AFP
It was Sportsnet reporter Elliotte Friedman who recently announced Spezza’s name, and admittedly, that makes sense. Spezza was drafted by the Senators and spent most of his playing career there. Since his retirement, he has been one of the league’s most prominent young managers. After serving as an advisor to Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas from 2022 to 2023, Dubas took him to Pittsburgh, where he became president of hockey operations and general manager of the Penguins. Spezza currently serves as deputy general manager.
Patrick Roy
Marcel Tremblay / QMI Agency
The chances of Roy ending up in Ottawa may be better as a head coach than as a general manager, but we have to mention his name here. Roy enjoys the favor of team owner Michael Andlaeur and has already participated in a hiring process with the Sens aimed at finding a head coach in 2019.