The Senators (6-15-1) have 13 points, second fewest in the NHL after a 6-5 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche at home Saturday.
"I don't think it really brings anything here to make a trade and give up, like, a big future piece for immediate success," Dorion said. "I don't think that does it. Especially if that player is not going to be here for the long term."
Dorion said he has received calls from other GMs attempting to trade but has resisted making a move. He said he expects Ottawa to find its way across the final three-quarters of the season, especially if it can get healthy.
"I'm not going to lie to anyone here, I've had a few sleepless nights," Dorion said. "I've not enjoyed this stretch of our team, but it's not by lack of effort. The players are playing hard, but sometimes players don't play up to their potential, and they know too.
"And the buck stops with me. And I'm not afraid to say that. We didn't anticipate this, but we're going to battle through this."
Dorion said one player not performing to his potential was goalie Matt Murray, who was sent to Belleville of the American Hockey League on Nov. 28 after being placed on waivers the day before.
The 27-year-old, who twice won the Stanley Cup (2016, 2017) with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was 0-5-0 with a 3.26 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage with the Senators this season, after he was 10-13-1 with a 3.38 GAA and an .893 save percentage in 27 games (25 starts) last season. He is in the second season of a four-year, $25 million contract ($6.25 million average annual value) he signed Oct. 9, 2020, two days after he was acquired in a trade with the Penguins.
Dorion said he felt a change was needed not only to help Murray find his game, but to try to improve Ottawa's overall defensive game.
"I want to be fair towards Matt," Dorion said. "What I felt, as the general manager of the team, was it needed to be done.
"I think he knows he has to be better. And at a certain point in time, he'll be back in Ottawa."
Injuries also have factored into the Senators' disappointing start.
Center Colin White is expected to be out until March after injuring his shoulder Oct. 7. Center Shane Pinto injured his shoulder Oct. 21, had surgery Nov. 24 and will be out 4-6 months. Forward Josh Brown sustained an upper-body injury Nov. 25 and could return in January. Defenseman Erik Brannstrom could return by Christmas after breaking his hand Nov. 13.
"The way our team is built, and I don't want to repeat this, losing [Pinto and White] was monumental to us," Dorion said. "And when we projected our team ... sometimes you can project losing one guy for 10 games, but at the same time, when you project losing both guys for a majority of the year, we're going to suffer, and all at the same time.
"You know, you can go out and make trades where you sacrifice important pieces of your future for immediate help. But I don't think that was part of the plan. It's not something that we can look at doing."
Instead, Dorion said he wants each member of the organization to look in the mirror and find a way to be better.
"A lot of the players on this team have underperformed this year," he said. "The players have to step up. I think the coaching staff has to step up, the general manager and the management perhaps need to step up. We all have to be better. But I still think there's a lot of hockey left.
"Winning five games out of 21 is not exactly where we want it to be. It's not what we foresaw, especially after the way we finished last year (23-28-5, including 9-2-1 to end the season). To me, the biggest thing is we've got to get this team back on its winning ways. We have made a few drastic decisions. But we feel this team is going to get back to playing the hockey that it's capable of playing."
NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report
