Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion says he’s ‘very active,’ but D.J. Smith’s job is not on the line

Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

TORONTO — With the Ottawa Senators struggling in the standings amid an underwhelming start to the season, GM Pierre Dorion said there was no shortage of counterparts willing to offer him a lifeline disguised as an anchor at Tuesday’s biannual GM Meeting here.

“Let’s see, two guys couldn’t make it, so I had 29 friends here that we’re really trying to help me out,” Dorion said, laughing. “Without a doubt, they had my best interests at heart.”

Nonetheless, Dorion admitted that he is “very active” on the trade front, trying to improve the Senators on the backend. He said defense is the toughest position to trade for right now.

“Very active,” Dorion said. “Very active to see what’s out there and what’s going on. These meetings are a lot different than the meetings in March, when you can’t make any more trades. Here you see a lot of guys huddling together and trying to figure out things and guys talking to each other. We’re all trying to figure out how to better our teams.”

Dorion dismissed any notion that the potential sale of the Senators might impact the way he approaches his job. He also put to bed, for the second time in a week, any speculation about job security of head coach D.J. Smith. This time, he did not speak in the third person.

“Coaching is not the issue,” Dorion said, point blank. “Simple as that. Not at all. For me, it’s the first time that we’ve given a team to D.J. that can compete for a possible playoff spot. So I think we’ve got to be patient there.”

That said, as much as Dorion is interested in making a trade, he said the Sens’ 5-9-1 record – second-worst in the 16-team Eastern Conference – “does not reflect how I feel we’re playing.” He spoke about how the analytics and underlying numbers seem to point to a team trending in the right direction, and pointed out how all 10 of Ottawa’s losses have been one-goal games, excluding empty-netters.

“I think we have to be somewhat patient, but at the same time, we can’t let this continue on for too long,” Dorion said.

It’s a fine line to walk. Dorion praised the work of Jake Sanderson and Jacob Bernard-Docker, two prized draft picks from the University of North Dakota, who have stepped up and assumed larger roles in the wake of mounting injuries and disappointing play from veterans like Nikita Zaitsev.

But the injuries piling up have also made it more difficult to properly evaluate the full state of the Sens. Consider: Top defenseman Thomas Chabot is out at least a week with a concussion; 35-goal scorer Josh Norris is out until at least January; defenseman Artem Zub is slated to return in the next week; and starting goalie Cam Talbot missed the first month of the season.

The injuries have not been ideal, but neither has the play on the ice.

“I have really one wish,” Dorion said. “I’d like to see our team pretty much healthy for 20-25 games. Just one year. You’re going to get nicks and bruises, but not going out for three months or something like that. Then you can gauge things better. But that hasn’t happened with us for the last few years.”

He may have to make tough decisions in spite of that.

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Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion says he’s ‘very active,’ but D.J. Smith’s job is not on the line

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