Randy Sexton (born July 24, 1959) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

executive, businessman and former athlete. He is the Senior Advisor to the General Manager for the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

. He was the assistant general manager for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) and general manager of the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

from 2017 to 2020. Prior to that, he was the director of amateur scouting for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

and general manager of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

and the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

of the NHL. He was also one of the founders of the

NHL club in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Career

Born in

Brockville Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...

, Randy Sexton attended St. Lawrence University from 1978 until 1982 on a hockey scholarship after playing for the

Cornwall Royals The Cornwall Royals were a junior ice hockey team based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981, and the Ontario Hockey League from 1981 to 1992. This team shared its name with o ...

. He served as team captain during his final two seasons, earning awards including All-American honors, Senior Male Athlete of the Year, Most Valuable Player and the Brian P. Doyle Leadership Award. From 1983 to 1985 he served as an assistant coach with St. Lawrence, while also handling scouting and recruiting responsibilities. He later earned a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from Clarkson University. In 1989, Sexton was vice-president of Terrace Investments, a commercial development firm in Ottawa. Bruce Firestone, then president & CEO, developed the idea of reviving NHL hockey in Ottawa, adopting for the club the old

name. In the original plan, their privately financed arena would anchor a new 'West Terrace' 'mini-city' land development in

Kanata, Ontario Kanata (, ) is a satellite city, satellite community and former city within Ottawa, Ontario. It is located about west of the city's Downtown Ottawa, downtown core. As of 2021, the former City of Kanata had a population of 98,938, with the ...

on class "A" farmland. Sexton, along with Firestone and Cyril Leeder were the principal persons behind the successful drive to win a new NHL franchise in 1990. Sexton would later be named general manager by majority owner Rod Bryden in 1993 and served until 1995. He was Ottawa's general manager at the 1993 NHL Entry Draft where he selected Alexandre Daigle. He would sign Daigle to a record-breaking salary for a rookie. The contract would lead the league to put restrictions on rookie contracts. He was fired in December 1995 due to the poor performance of the hockey club in the 1995–96 season. Sexton then turned to sports marketing with the firm Capital Sports Management, which provided strategic advice to the Senators. When the Senators built the Bell Sensplex ice rink facility in 2004, he was named executive director. On January 27, 2007, Sexton was hired as the assistant general manager of the Florida Panthers, serving under then-general manager Jacques Martin, the former head coach of the Ottawa Senators. His responsibilities included overseeing scouting operations, player development, hockey administration and contract negotiations. Sexton was appointed the Panthers' general manager on October 2, 2009, after Jacques Martin resigned to become the head coach of the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

. Sexton was replaced by former

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

general manager Dale Tallon after a disappointing 2009–10 season. On July 3, 2010, Sexton was hired by the

as an assistant director of amateur scouting. From 2013, he served as the Penguins' co-director of amateur scouting until he was elevated to the position of sole director of amateur scouting in 2015. In 2017 he was named assistant general manager of the

and general manager of the

. On June 16, 2020, he was fired from the

. On January 1, 2021, Sexton was hired to the

as the team's Senior Advisor to the General Manager.

Personal life

Sexton's son,

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

, played for the Bruins, Penguins, and Senators organizations and is now an assistant coach with the Senators. Sexton's younger son, Patrick, played NCAA hockey for the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

from 2015 to 2017.

Awards

* 2012 - Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sexton, Randy 1959 births Buffalo Sabres executives Cornwall Royals (QMJHL) players Florida Panthers general managers Living people National Hockey League general managers Ottawa Senators executives Ottawa Senators general managers Ice hockey people from Brockville Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh Penguins scouts Clarkson University alumni

Career

Personal life

Awards

See also

References