On Friday, Steve Staios will handle questions from the media in his first season-ending news conference as general manager of the Ottawa Senators.
It’s been such a tumultuous season in Ottawa that it’s easy to forget Staios has only been on the job for less than four months, officially accepting the GM title on Dec. 31.
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Even though he’s relatively new to the position, Staios is going to feel the heat this offseason from a fan base that has been deprived of seeing playoff hockey since 2017. Ottawa fans are restless, frustrated and fatigued — emotions that have muted much of the optimism that existed last year at this time. The honeymoon period for Staios and the new ownership group is quickly coming to a close, ushering in an era where every one of his moves in the general manager’s chair will be treated with scrutiny.
Staios had the luxury of playing the “evaluation” card this season, as he and owner Michael Andlauer came in too late to make any meaningful changes before the start of the regular season.
But now they have a relatively clean slate to work with and Ottawa fans are eager to see them put their fingerprints on the organization.
As Staios told TSN’s Jon Abbott during a television interview on Tuesday evening in Boston, “It will be an interesting offseason for us.”
So as he gets set to navigate his first offseason as an NHL GM, here are 10 burning questions for Staios heading into a pivotal phase for the organization.
1. Who’s the next head coach?
This is unequivocally the most important decision Staios and his team will be making this offseason. And with the Sabres firing Don Granato this week, there’s at least one other team that will be aggressively pursuing the available coaching candidates in the weeks ahead. Teams like Los Angeles, St. Louis and New Jersey currently have interim head coaches in place with no security for next season. Plus we could see other teams jump into the coaching carousel — if they get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
The competition for coaches is about to heat up.
If the Senators truly believed the candidate they wanted was available, logic dictates they would have scooped them up by now. Why allow a team like Buffalo a chance to suddenly swoop in and steal them?
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Staios and his staff have a wide mix of candidates to choose from. Established coaches like Craig Berube, Dean Evason and Todd McLellan are available. There are a handful of AHL coaches waiting for an opportunity to coach in the NHL, including the likes of John Gruden and Joel Bouchard. And current NHL assistant coaches Doug Houda and Chris Kelly could be candidates for a promotion.
There will be no shortage of qualified coaches available for hire. The smart money says Ottawa will hire its next head coach at some point shortly after the draft lottery in May. And considering this will be Staios’ first impactful move as general manager, there will be plenty of scrutiny on this decision.
2. What’s happening with the goaltending situation?
During his brief intermission interview on TSN, Jon Abbott asked Staios about Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg both coming back next season.
“I’ll say this, both Korpi and Forsi are much better than what their numbers showed this year,” Staios said. “They didn’t have the seasons they expected or we expected of them. I think they’re going to have to have a good offseason and prepare for the start of next year.”
And it’s true. You can probably count on one hand the number of players who should walk away feeling like they had a good 2023-24 season on an individual level in Ottawa. But the goaltenders took the most heat and criticism and it will take a remarkable bit of salesmanship from Staios and company to sell the idea of bringing them both back. With four years and $16 million remaining on Korpisalo’s contract, it would be a difficult pill to swallow a buyout. The Senators would be on the hook for paying Korpisalo roughly $1.3 million in each of the next eight seasons.
Forsberg is entering the final season of his contract with a cap hit of $2.75 million. He was really solid in his last two starts of the season, turning aside 58 of the final 61 shots he faced. Is that enough to earn a spot next season?
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If the Senators cannot move one of their two goalies, maybe the smartest option is to find a third goalie to join the mix and let the situation sort itself in training camp. If you need to bury one goalie in the AHL — similar to what Edmonton did with Jack Campbell this season — that is an option, too.
3. Do you really have to choose between Chabot and Chychrun?
The Senators are reaching a crucial juncture with the construction of their blue line.
Jakob Chychrun is heading into the final year before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. Thomas Chabot’s no-trade clause kicks in on July 1 this year. So if Staios is going to drastically alter the completion of his defence corps, it stands to reason he might act this summer. Jake Sanderson is evolving into the club’s No. 1 defenceman, but is there room for both Chabot and Chychrun long term? They’re both left shots who seem more comfortable on their natural side.
For the first time in his career, Chychrun played every game in an 82-game schedule. Meanwhile, Chabot was hampered by a variety of injuries that limited him to 51 games. Chabot is locked into an $8 million contract through the 2027-28 season. Moving him might not yield the best return, while Chychrun only counts $4.6 million against the cap next season. One interesting wrinkle on Chychrun: He’s on a fairly backloaded contract and is owed $7 million in real cash next season — which includes a $1 million signing bonus due on July 1.
4. What does Pinto’s next contract look like?
Shane Pinto made it very clear in a recent interview with The Athletic that he wants to stay in Ottawa — ideally with some term on his next contract.
“I obviously want to get something done here soon. I want to be here for a long time. I’ve expressed that, and I think they’ve expressed that,” Pinto said on April 8. “It’s just about finding a middle ground here.”
Finding that middle ground might be really tricky for a player who has a unique career arc. Pinto has already missed 118 career games due to a shoulder injury and a gambling-related suspension. Do the Senators know enough about his upside to lock him into a long-term deal this summer? Or does this play out more like a bridge contract?
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This Senators regime appears high on Pinto, who plays a responsible 200-foot game and is a right-shot centre.
“He fits in with the age group. He brings a bit of a different dynamic than our other centreman his play away from the puck,” Staios told TSN on Tuesday. “We have a lot of important pieces and Shane is certainly one of them moving forward.”
5. Where do you see Norris fitting into this lineup next season?
Speaking of centres with a limited sample, Josh Norris fits into that category.
Since signing his seven-year contract that came with a $7.95 million AAV, Norris has only managed to suit up for 58 of a possible 164 regular season games for Ottawa due to shoulder injuries. He missed the start of training camp and the regular season this year due to his shoulder and there’s always the possibility that situation could repeat itself in September.
When healthy, Norris has been a lethal sniper who has a career shooting percentage of 17.2. But are Staios and the Senators pencilling him into the opening-night lineup? And if so, is there any chance they would consider moving him to the wing, so he could continue to be a threat to shoot without the rigours and responsibilities of being a centre?
6. What’s Giroux thinking?
If you could be a fly on the wall for any exit meeting on Thursday, the one with Claude Giroux and management might be the most intriguing.
Giroux voiced his displeasure and frustration on multiple occasions this season. The 36-year-old Giroux is entering the final year of his contract and could be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Given where he’s at in his career, Giroux doesn’t have the time or patience to sit through another wasted season in 2024-25.
“Where I am in my career, I want to play in the playoffs. I want to be successful. I want to have that rush,” Giroux told The Athletic last month.
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If Giroux told management it would be best to find him a new home, could anybody blame him given his age? Giroux might be the first star player who garners sympathy from Ottawa fans if he demands a change of scenery. Giroux has earned the right to dictate his next move. Ideally, he tells Senators management he’s excited to help turn around this program in the fall. But if Ottawa is out of a playoff spot again next season, it feels like a foregone conclusion that Giroux would be a prime candidate to be shipped out at the trade deadline.
7. Is Brannstrom’s time finished in Ottawa?
The Senators already have a logjam of three premium left-shot defencemen in Sanderson, Chychrun and Chabot. That leaves Erik Brannstrom in an awkward position heading into another summer in which he needs a new contract.
He did play some games on the right side and certainly looks to be the most comfortable in this group playing his off-side. But he has arbitration rights and hammering out something more than a one-year deal seems like it might be challenging. Given where he is on the depth chart, Brannstrom isn’t going to get significant power-play touches with this group and it seems like he might only have a third pairing ceiling in Ottawa. Is there another team that sees potential in him playing top-four minutes, given that he has decent underlying numbers? If so, this might be the summer to seriously explore that option.
8. Are you going to replace Tarasenko?
In each of the last two seasons, the Senators have brought in highly touted scoring wingers in Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex DeBrincat. Neither one gained a ton of traction and stayed in Ottawa beyond a single season. But with Dominik Kubalik — who was acquired in the DeBrincat trade — likely on the way out, the team could probably use another bona fide scoring winger in the mix.
Would they trust Angus Crookshank — who scored 24 goals in 50 AHL games this season — to fill that role? If not, they may have to search elsewhere this summer to find someone with the potential of scoring 20-30 goals in the NHL.
9. What does the bottom six look like next season?
It seems like Ridly Greig has earned himself a full-time NHL spot. Mathieu Joseph had a nice bounce-back season and firmly established himself as a third-line option in Ottawa. Beyond that, how many bottom six roles are open for the Senators? Pinto or Norris could get placed into the role of third-line centre, but that’s also a spot that could be occupied by Greig if needed.
Parker Kelly had a nice season on the fourth line and his role was elevated with Jacques Martin as head coach. But Kelly does require a new contract for next season. Mark Kastelic had a roller-coaster season but generally played better in the final six weeks. Did the Senators feel like Kelly, Kastelic and Boris Katchouck gave them enough in a fourth-line role down the stretch to start next year with that trio? They were highly effective, but if Staios wants to put his fingerprints on this roster, he’s going to have to make some changes somewhere.
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10. What’s your plan with Hamonic?
Travis Hamonic has been a consummate professional in his two years in Ottawa but saw his role greatly diminished in 2023-24, with injuries and scratches limiting him to 48 games.
The 33-year-old has another season left on his contract and while the cap hit is only $1.1 million, it comes with a no-movement clause handed to Hamonic by Pierre Dorion. That means shipping Hamonic to the AHL is not a possibility, because he could simply refuse the assignment.
The Senators could buy out Hamonic this summer and it would only cost $366,000 for each of the next two seasons. The Senators have Jacob Bernard-Docker and Tyler Kleven in the fold as well, so if they feel like Hamonic is behind those players on the depth chart, moving on from him might make sense.
(Photo: Matt Kartozian / USA Today)
