Ottawa Senators Hire Pierre McGuire!

The Ottawa Senators are making some additions to their front office and one polarizing name has made the cut. Pierre McGuire has been hired by the Senators and will serve as the team's Senior Vice President of Player Development.

The #Sens are set to introduce former NBC broadcaster Pierre McGuire as senior VP of player development today. Postmedia has an exclusive interview with McGuire and owner Eugene Melnyk that will be posted by @ottawasuncom and @OttawaCitizen any minute. Pick up a copy.
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) July 12, 2021

Owner Eugene Melnyk is a huge believer in McGuire who has interviewed for multiple positions recently, including with the Sens. As per the exclusive interview with Garrioch:

McGuire, who previously worked for the Senators as an assistant coach during the 1995-96 campaign, met with owner Eugene Melnyk several times last three weeks and is being brought on board to assist general manager Pierre Dorion, along with the club’s hockey operations department.

Speaking to Postmedia in an exclusive interview on Sunday from his home in Mont Tremblant, Que., McGuire said he couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Senators by agreeing to what’s believed to be a three-year deal. Melnyk and McGuire first spoke on June 20 and have had several discussions since then.

McGuire couldn't be more thrilled about the gig as it's been a long time coming for a team to take a chance on him. It seemed you either loved or hated his broadcast passion, so now he can turn his love for hockey into another direction:

I’m super-pumped. We’re going to have some fun. I see my role as being there to help (Dorion), helping the hockey operations department, player development and being somebody who can help the organization. It’s important to have lots of information when you make decisions and I’d like to think I’d be very good at gathering information. The biggest thing is just bring my experience and knowledge of the league. I’ve been in the league for over 30 years. Over the last 23 years, I’ve had pretty much unfettered access to the league in terms of players and management decisions. That’s something that’s pretty helpful. I felt my conversations with Eugene and Pierre have been very fruitful and I’ve enjoyed them very much