Word has been oddly quiet in regards to the Ottawa Senators’ vacant president of hockey operations job, but that doesn’t mean the team hasn’t been active in its search.
“Word is that Eugene Melnyk has asked the league for help on this, and it’s not uncommon for teams to ask for help, and the league makes some certain recommendations,” Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos said during the Headline segment of Hockey Night in Canada Saturday. “Now, the word is the league has assigned a current NHL executive to help gauge interest for this job, and one of those names that we hear that was contacted was Trevor Linden, who held that title, of course, with the Vancouver Canucks.”
Linden is a big name and would seemingly be a good fit for Ottawa, but, as Kypreos explains, it doesn’t only come down to whether the fit’s right for the team in these situations.
“Now, there’s not going to be a shortage of people who want this job – that lineup is going to be around the block – but where it gets interesting is the type of person that they’re able to attract,” Kypreos said. “Is he experienced? The credibility? Is he going to want a certain amount of security, including money, term and power to make decisions? I think that’s when that list gets awfully short.”
Expanding on this, Kypreos’ Sportsnet colleague Chris Johnston said the number of candidates with the expected credentials for a job like this has been relatively low.
“There’s not that many people who we would describe as ‘highly qualified’ – be it former general managers, former presidents of hockey operations – that are being linked to this job,” Johnston said. “I think that speaks to some of the uncertainty in terms of what exactly are the Senators looking for here.
“They’re gonna find somebody eventually, but it’s been awfully quiet given that they’re a couple weeks into this search.”
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