Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray says he could have hired a more experienced coach - Pat Quinn and Bob Hartley, amongst others were rumoured at Christmastime to be possibilities - but the fact that Murray didn't indicates one of two things.
One - Murray has enormous confidence in the highly-regimented style of Clouston and believes his time is now, hoping this inexperienced hire will work out as well as Mike Babcock did when Murray hired him in Anaheim.
Or two – Senators owner Eugene Melnyk preferred not committing to a long-term contract and/or big money for yet another 'name' coach, keeping in mind that Paddock and Hartsburg are still being paid to not coach the team.
Murray said that isn't the case - that Melnyk gave him the green light to hire anyone he saw fit.
But in any event, this does allow Melnyk to review all aspects of the operation at season's end and see exactly where the team is at.
That means Murray needs to get busy revamping this team on the fly. How Cory Clouston performs and what deals Murray can make by the Mar. 4 trade deadline will tell the longer-term tale for the Senators.