Apr 12, 2018
Dorion: 99.9% chance Sens keep 1st-RD pick
Guy Boucher's future in Ottawa remains unclear. Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said Thursday the team’s entire coaching staff is under evaluation and there is no timeline for a decision. Dorion also said Thursday there is a 99.9 per cent chance the Senators will keep their first-round pick for this season and surrender their 2019 first-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche.
TSN.ca Staff
Guy Boucher's future in Ottawa remains unclear.
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said Thursday the team’s entire coaching staff is under evaluation and there is no timeline for a decision.
When pressed, Dorion said the team wouldn’t make a decision until the end of April.
Boucher was an overtime goal away from the Stanley Cup Final last season, but his team regressed badly in 2017-18.
Dorion said if Boucher returns, he will need to see two changes from the team's head coach.
"We're going to implement younger players in our lineup. And we're going to practice more," Dorion said. "If I hear 'rest is a weapon' one more time, I'll go crazy."
After taking the Sens on a surprise Eastern Conference Final run last spring in which they lost in double overtime of Game 7 to the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins, Boucher’s team finished 28-43-11 this season.
In total, Boucher has posted a 97-79-20 record with the Senators over the past two seasons.
A native of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Que., Boucher joined the Senators following three seasons in Switzerland with Bern SC. Prior to that, Boucher coached the Tampa Bay Lightning for two-plus seasons from 2011 to 2013, dismissed midway through his third season. Just as he did with Ottawa, Boucher led the Lightning to the conference final in his first season with the team.
Boucher has amassed a career mark of 169-150-41 behind the bench over five NHL seasons with the Bolts and Sens.
Keeping the Pick?
Dorion said Thursday there is a 99.9 per cent chance the Senators will keep their first-round pick for this season and surrender their 2019 first-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche.
The Senators traded their first-round pick for this season – with top-10 protection – to the Avalanche as part of the Matt Duchene trade in November.
The Senators have until the time they're on the clock at the draft to trade the pick to the Avalanche. Ottawa enters the lottery with the second-best odds (13.5%) of winning the first overall pick and will select no later than fifth overall.
Dorion added that because the Senators will pick in the top five there's a chance the team's draft pick in June could make their roster in October.