McGuire joins Senators front office as senior VP of player development

Pierre McGuire said he felt the time and the opportunity aligned perfectly for him to go back to working for an NHL team after more than two decades in broadcasting.

McGuire was hired as senior vice president of player development for the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
The 59-year-old will work with Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and owner Eugene Melnyk. He was an analyst for NBC Sports since 2006 and last worked in the NHL as an assistant coach for Ottawa in 1995-96.
"When the NBC contract was no longer in play I told my wife, 'This is a chance to try to go back,'" McGuire said. "If NBC would have kept the United States national television rights] contract, I would have stayed at NBC and my boss at NBC, Sam Flood, knows that. But when it was no longer NBC, I told my wife, 'This is my opportunity to really try to get back.'"
Melnyk said the Senators will benefit from McGuire's experience.
"On behalf of the entire Senators organization, I would like to welcome Pierre McGuire back to Ottawa," Melnyk said. "We are excited to add Pierre to our hockey management group. His experience will be instrumental as we continue to build an elite team. Pierre's knowledge of the game and its players is highly regarded, and I am confident that he will positively assist our team as it progresses to the next level."
McGuire said he chose the Senators ahead of other opportunities he had with teams since he knew he'd be leaving NBC after this season because the NHL went with ESPN and Turner Sports in multiyear contracts to be the new national media rights partners.
"I spoke with more than just Ottawa during the last two months," McGuire said. "I won't tell you the teams, but I've spoken to at least four teams about positions. The Ottawa one was really the most, I thought for me anyways, interesting and intriguing."
He also said he turned down NHL job offers while at NBC, including a two-year contract as a GM because he promised NBC that he wouldn't leave for a contract fewer than four years.
"I had two or three opportunities to leave NBC," McGuire said. "I loved working for NBC. I loved working for Sam Flood. I loved everything about it. There wasn't a day where I didn't have unbelievable joy going to work, not one day."
McGuire began his coaching career at his alma mater, Hobart College, in 1984, and was an assistant at Babson College and St. Lawrence University.
He won the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as a special assignment scout in 1990-91 and as an assistant coach in 1991-92. McGuire joined the Hartford Whalers as an assistant on Aug. 28, 1992 and became the youngest coach in the NHL at age 32 when he replaced Paul Holmgren on Nov. 16, 1993. He was 23-37-7 when he was fired by the Whalers on May 19, 1994.
McGuire then went to Ottawa and had a brief stint in the ECHL before beginning his broadcasting career as a Montreal Canadiens analyst for TSN radio. He said familiarity with Ottawa mattered in his decision, and that he and his wife plan to sell their home in Connecticut and move to Ottawa.
"I was really excited to go to a hockey market and Ottawa is a passionate hockey market," McGuire said. "No. 2, I'm familiar with a lot of the people that are involved in the organization and the city in particular. Mr. Melnyk, we've had about five or six pretty significant discussions, and I was just blown away by his passion, I really was. His passion to win, his passion to achieve excellence with the franchise, that's something that appeals to me. Then the discussions I've had with [general manager
(No. 3, 2020),
Logan Brown
(No. 11, 2016) and Colin White (No. 21, 2015), and defensemen Erik Brannstrom (No. 15, 2017 by the Vegas Golden Knights), Thomas Chabot (No. 18, 2015) and Jacob Bernard-Docker (No. 26, 2018).
The Senators had three first-round picks in the 2020 NHL Draft: Stutzle, defenseman
Jake Sanderson
(No. 5) and forward
Ridly Greig
(No. 28).
"I thought last summer they stole the draft," McGuire said. "Pierre Dorion and (chief amateur scout) Trent Mann have done a phenomenal job with the scouts. Their development program in Belleville (American Hockey League) has been exceptional. That is led by (coach) Troy Mann. He's done a really good job there.
"It's a really good situation to be stepping into and I'm so grateful to Mr. Melnyk and Pierre Dorion for the opportunity to work there."