Senators GM Steve Staios has work cut out for him in the off-season

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It was a season of destiny that finished with another dose of reality.

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Only one word can describe this season for the Ottawa Senators: Disastrous.

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The Senators closed out their awful year Tuesday night with a 3-1 decision over the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden and, after taking 24 hours to lick their wounds, they’ll gather at the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday for exit meetings before they head their separate ways.

Steve Staois, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, along with senior vice-president Dave Poulin and associate GM Ryan Bowness, likely will be among those that will participate in the sessions along with interim coach Jacques Martin.

When the likes of captain Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot sat down with former GM Pierre Dorion in 2022, both expressed their frustration with missing the playoffs and urged him to make the proper changes to help this club get to the post-season.

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That prompted Dorion to sign veteran winger Claude Giroux to a three-year deal on July 1, 2022. The signing of Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year deal last summer was significant, but in the end it was a failed experiment.

Owner Michael Andlauer — who will be in town Thursday — and his partners didn’t buy the Senators for $950 million U.S. to finish outside of the playoffs, and he’ll be working with Staios during this off-season to try to make the proper changes that will get his club back to the post-season.

“There’s a responsibility on myself and my staff to be able to do our part,” Staios told TSN’s Jon Abbott on Tuesday night after the first period in Boston. “We’ve certainly identified areas where we feel we need to get better and some of that is a certain type of player as well

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“But there’s also the commitment from the group as well.”

If this club is going to turn the corner, it’s in the hands of the core players like Tkachuk, Chabot, Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, Jake Sanderson, Shane Pinto and Ridly Greig to play the right way to have success.

The biggest decision Andlauer, Staios and Co. have is to find the right head coach. League executives say it’s time for the Senators to bring in “someone that is firm, but fair” and will make these players accountable if they don’t play the right way.

But, the new bench boss needs to have better talent. Forward Dominik Kubalik won’t be back next year, but decisions have to be made on restricted free agents Mark Kastelic, Erik Brannstrom and Boris Katchouk.

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Fourth-line winger Parker Kelly has thrived since the coaching change and bringing him back is the easiest decision that Staios will make the off-season. The club is also working on a five- or six-year deal with Pinto and the hope is that contract will be signed soon.

Veteran defenceman Travis Hamonic, who hasn’t played down the stretch, has a year left on his contract at $1 million and he has a full “no move” clause. A determination has to be made there on what’s next and a buyout is possible.

Expect to hear winger Mathieu Joseph’s name on the market as well because he didn’t score a goal in the club’s final 12 games.

The elephant in the room is goaltending.

Signed to a five-year, $20-million deal last July 1, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo has been the club’s biggest disappointment.

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He hasn’t performed anywhere close to what the Senators expected coming into the year, but buying out the rest of his contract just feels like a long shot.

To make matters worse, Anton Forsberg has struggled and, with only one year left on his deal, there’s a good chance he’ll be moved during the summer.

“I think they’re both better than what their numbers showed,” Staios said. “They’re both incredibly hard work, they’re diligent and I’m sure when we do our exit meetings a number of our players won’t be pleased with their seasons.

“They continue to work, they didn’t have the season that they probably expected, or we expected of them. They’re going to have to have good off-season to prepare for the start of next year.”

The Senators kicked tires on Boston’s Linus Ullmark at the deadline and the expectation is the club will circle back.

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What Andlauer, Staios, Poulin, Bowness and Martin have to determine is where this roster needs to be upgraded. This is the seventh straight year the club has missed the playoffs and there were mitigating factors with Pinto’s 41-game suspension plus Norris’ inability to stay healthy.

Defenceman Jakob Chychrun, acquired from the Arizona Coyotes at the March 2023 trade deadline, will be the subject of trade talk between now and the draft in June. He’s a year away from unrestricted free agency, teams called at the deadline this year and he’s going to attract attention.

If Norris was healthy, he’d likely be surrounded by trade talk, but the third shoulder surgery of his career has taken him out of the discussion.

There shouldn’t be a many untouchables outside of Tkachuk, Sanderson and Stutzle. We’re told Staios “was open for business” at the deadline and he’ll have to take the same approach into the summer.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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