The Ottawa Senators are making several moves in their front office. The NHL franchise is appointing Steve Staios as general manager and president of hockey operations, per NHL.com. Dave Poulin also joins the Senators as Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations. Ryan Bowness is filling the role of Associate General Manager.

Ottawa is making the moves in the midst of a disappointing season for the franchise. Ottawa is 13-18 on the season, and dead last in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Ottawa has 26 points on the season.

Staios will be in charge of building a winning franchise again for Ottawa. He had been acting in the role of interim general manager for the team after joining the Senators in September. Poulin and Bowness will report to Staios in their respective roles. Bowness worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins for three seasons as director of professional scouting. Poulin is a former NHL player who worked in the front office for the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as in broadcasting.

The men will need to work together to help Ottawa compete for a Stanley Cup. Ottawa has never won a championship since the franchise was founded in 1992. The team did win an Eastern Conference championship in 2007, but lost to Anaheim that year in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Ottawa is led this year by Tim Stutzle, who has 33 points for the team. He leads the Senators in assists with 26. Left wing Brady Tkachuk leads the club in goals with 16 on the season.

The Senators play the Buffalo Sabres Sunday. The puck drops at 6:00 Eastern.