The Ottawa Senators hired Steve Staois to be the general manager of their hockey team a little over 8 months ago and since then he has experienced a steep learning curve. While trying his best to make the organization relevant and respected within the league and amongst the other thirty-one general managers, the fifty-year-old rookie general manager may have inadvertently gotten egg on his face if what is being reported is accurate.
TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger was quoted the following when discussing Staois, particularly the Jacob Chychrun trade with the Washington Capitals that yielded defenceman Nick Jensen & a 2026 third-round pick.
"The Chychrun trade was interesting because I know Steve Staios was telling other managers in Vegas at the draft that he had a 1st and a 2nd but was looking for more for Jakob Chychrun. Ahhh, sounds doubtful that he had a 1st and a 2nd."
It is entirely possible that Staois had a chance to obtain a first and second-round pick for the twenty-six-year-old, it seems rather unlikely that he would pass up the opportunity to trade for them if he already had a deal in place. It is more likely that the best deal for Chychrun was the one that he eventually made with Washington, but other than trying to get other GMs to bite and offer you a better deal, what would the purpose of lying accomplish?
While giving Staois the benefit of the doubt may be in the best interest of fans, insiders and the like it has been a very long time since anyone had anything to cheer for at the Canadian Tire Centre and everyone is probably chomping at the bit for the team to be relevant again.
