Pierre Dorion had known for a long time that the Senators were set to take off in the 2022-2023 season.
This is what he said during an interview with Jean-Charles Lajoie on Tuesday.
“I would say even three years ago our vision was to make the playoffs this year. I’m not afraid to say that I would love to be on the buyer’s side at the trade deadline. When we started the plan, we wanted to spend more in 2022-2023 to get top veterans. We now hope to participate in the playoffs and be in the fight until the end of the season.
The general manager of the Senators therefore took great measures to put his plan into action, notably by acquiring Alex DeBrincat.
“He is a hard worker and he is someone who wants to win. He has integrated well into our group of players. We still got three draft picks, but guys like that don’t often end up on the trade market. We did not question ourselves a second time when we were close to doing it.
Dorion also made sure to improve the leadership level of his team, by signing former Flyers captain Claude Giroux.
“There are intangibles on the side of Claude Giroux that we cannot not look at. He wanted to come home. His wife is from here and his children are going to start school soon. It was important for us to have a veteran capable of having an impact in the bedroom and who still has good hockey to give. He’s still a magician on the power play. He works extremely hard and he’s not afraid to tell his teammates to work too. It’s good for our culture. I’ve always said it was Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot’s bedroom, but Claude can help them and that’s good for us.”
If the situation of the guards has been problematic in recent years, the general manager has remedied the problem by compromising to obtain Cam Talbot.
“The goalkeeper position is the most important position. When your goalkeeper doesn’t make the saves, it’s very rare that we win games. I wouldn’t call him a top goaltender, but he still went to the All-Star Game. I will not hide that when I saw the comments of the agent and Bill Guerin, we got on the phone. We knew that there was a history between Filip Gustavsson and Bill Guerin in Pittsburgh. We solidified our position as goalkeeper by making this transaction.
Watch the interview in the video above.