DALLAS — Pierre Dorion stepped in front of the cameras following three weeks in the shadows to finally shed some light on a tumultuous stretch in what has become a disastrous 13 months for the Ottawa Senators.
And in a league where executives are usually loathe to create headlines, the club's general manager didn't hold back.
Choosing his words carefully, Dorion told reporters ahead of the NHL draft that the recent trade of Mike Hoffman, quite frankly, came out of necessity.
"Our dressing room was broken," Dorion said Thursday. "We have to have a dressing room that wants to win together.
"Key components for us moving forward are character, leadership, accountability."
News surfaced last week that Melinda Karlsson, the wife of Senators captain Erik Karlsson, filed a peace bond in May alleging that Monika Caryk, Hoffman's fiancee, posted hundreds of derogatory and harassing online messages aimed at her and her husband.
Hoffman and Caryk both denied the cyberbullying allegations and have not been charged in relation to the incident.
Hoffman, who has broken the 20-goal plateau in each of his four full NHL seasons, was traded to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday for a package that included fellow winger Mikkel Boedker. San Jose then flipped Hoffman to the Florida Panthers, Ottawa's Atlantic Division rival, a few hours later.
Dorion refused to discuss what he thinks punting Hoffman out of town means for Karlsson, who can become an unrestricted free agent next summer and walk for nothing, however it's clear the status quo in the nation's capital had become untenable for a team that finished 30th overall in 2017-18.
"No rooms in the NHL are perfect," said Dorion, who added management "heard a rumour" about a situation involving Karlsson and Hoffman at the end of the season. "If we acted on every rumour we hear, we couldn't do our job in management.
"No player ever came to us about these things."
While there have also been rumours Karlsson could be traded soon with Ottawa seemingly about to pivot into a rebuild, Dorion is zeroing in on improving his prospect pool at the draft with picks No. 4 and 22.
"Our focus this weekend is about the draft, adding these two players to our group," he said. "That's what our sole focus is."
Boedker, who scored 15 times last season, is the key piece coming to Ottawa from the Hoffman exchange, but Dorion was dealing from a position of weakness and was never going to get fair market value.
"Mikkel Boedker is a good player," Dorion said. "We know with the culture that we're aiming to get, that he's going to fit in that dressing room."
The rift between Hoffman, Caryk and the Karlssons was just one of several recent public relations disasters for the Senators, who are at the draft without their suspended assistant general manager.
Randy Lee was charged with harassment after allegedly making lewd comments and rubbing the shoulders of a 19-year-old male hotel shuttle driver at the pre-draft combine in Buffalo on May 30.
Suspended by the team two weeks after being charged, Lee has pled not guilty and is due in court July 6.
"We felt we made the right decision with Randy Lee," said Dorion, who had not spoken to the media since the alleged encounter. "In 23 years with the organization, there's never been an incident recorded. It's an on-going process.
"Randy will have his due process, and from there we will re-evaluate."
Other negative headlines have piled up in the past year for the Senators — quite a fall from the spring of 2017 when Ottawa was one goal from reaching the Stanley Cup final only to lose in double overtime of Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round of the playoffs.
Just before the Lee and Karlsson-Hoffman stories broke, Daniel Alfredsson, the most popular player in franchise history, was quoted as saying he hopes the team is sold to ensure its future in Ottawa.
Meanwhile, a baby garment featuring the Senators logo was recalled because of a potential choking hazard.
Things also turned ugly prior to December's showcase outdoor game when former centre Kyle Turris, who was traded to the Nashville Predators in a three-way a month earlier, told The Canadian Press that owner Eugene Melnyk was the reason he was shown the door.
Then on the eve of the outdoor game, Melnyk hinted he might have to move the Senators if lagging ticket sales didn't improve. Later, a #MelnykOut hashtag was launched on Twitter, eventually spreading to billboards across the city.
Dorion said the last year has been difficult.
"When you're at the head of hockey operations everything falls on your shoulders," he said. "You're not ever given a handbook how to be a GM. A lot things were curves that we didn't expect, that we weren't aware of. All I can tell you, and I can tell our fans, is we're going to be greatly improved next year.
"We're really looking forward to this draft."
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Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press