Earlier this season, the Ottawa Senators bid farewell to Pierre Dorion as the team's General Manager. Reports surfaced that Dorion resigned after the Senators were penalized with a 1st round draft pick for failing to disclose that Evgeni Dadonov had not submitted proper paperwork for his no-trade list. Now, in February, another NHL team has followed suit in parting ways with their GM.
Kekalainen had come under scrutiny following his hiring of Mike Babcock, which ended poorly amid reports of the coach forcing rookies to reveal their phone contents. Combined with a lack of success, these incidents led to Kekalainen's departure.