Popular analyst and former Leafs executive joins the Ottawa Senators' front office

It appears that TSN analyst Dave Poulin is heading back to an NHL executive chair as the Ottawa Senators have decided to hire him as the executive VP of hockey operations on Sunday.

With the Senators going through a wholesale change from ownership all the way down to the coaching staff , newly minted owner Michael Andlauer has decided to strengthen his team's front office staff with several significant announcements today, Poulin among them.


Poulin, was with the Toronto Maple Leafs as an executive vice president and was also general manager of the Marlies from 2009 through 2014. He had a great career as an NHL player from 1982 through 1995 as he held the captaincy for the Philadelphia Flyers along with playing for the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals in his NHL career as well.


Along with Poulin, Andlauer has decided to make Steve Staios the permanent General Manager and President of Hockey OPS. Andlauer also hired Ryan Bowness, the son of the legendary Rick Bowness, as the Associate General Manager.

It's been a turbulent year for the Senators in 2023 as the team underwent major renovations. Once Andlauer took over, he gave the team several months of evaluation to see if this management group can make the changes to help the Senators.

It was clear as the team struggled out of the gate and continued through the first 30 games of the season that major changes were needed and Andlauer is now believed to be near the end of the makeover in terms of the off-ice additions. Now that he has his aces in their places, it will be up to everyone to come together to fix the problems in Ottawa.

Time will tell whether these changes are going to be helpful.