Judging by comments on the Twitterverse, (or is it the X-verse now?) it seems most fans of the Ottawa Senators believe that firing head coach D.J. Smith is all that’s needed to make their team a Stanley Cup champion. Even so, let me say from the outset that Smith isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Nor should he.
Related: Senators Firing D.J. Smith Won’t Solve Team’s Problems
Any monkey can fire a head coach. And if you’re Senators management, it’s an easy way to appease fans who think that the Senators’ problems – every last one of them – are all Smith’s fault. What makes a smart monkey, however, is figuring out who to replace him with.
So even though I’m predicting Senators fans are stuck with Smith for the foreseeable future, let’s indulge in some fantasy hockey and pretend that he’s in an UBER with instructions to run every red light on the way to the airport to get him on the next flight out of Bytown. Who’s available on the head coach market to replace him?
Let’s’ take a look at five candidates whose names come up consistently across the social media accounts of Senators fans.
Why D.J. Smith Will Remain Senators Head Coach – For Now
Okay, but before we get into all of that, I can already hear many readers demanding to know how anyone could possibly argue that Smith should remain in his job. I get it, but hear me out.
The new owners of the Senators are smart businesspeople who will take a methodical, formula-driven approach to the management of the franchise. They are consummate corporate professionals who don’t make emotional decisions based on the latest crisis on which fans are fixated. They’ll take the time they need to assess the organization from top to bottom before making any major changes.
Not only that, but it would be difficult for Senators president of hockey operations and interim general manager, (GM) Steve Staios, to make changes behind the Senators’ bench himself. He’d probably prefer to have a new permanent GM in place to make that call. Otherwise, how does Staios hold the new GM accountable when he’s been saddled with a head coach he didn’t choose?
Sure, Senators fans can point to a laundry list of what ails their team – no structure, no discernable defensive system, lousy special teams, no powerplay, a crummy penalty kill, poor goaltending…yada yada yada. Even so, how much of this is on Smith? He can’t go out on the ice and quarterback the powerplay or the penalty kill. Ultimately it’s his players who need to execute and they aren’t.
What’s more, it looks like there’s an attitude problem with the Senators. Smith can’t will his team to win – his players have to possess that will. Judging by the way they played in the humiliating 5-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 27 and the stinker they mailed in against their fellow bottom dwellers – the Columbus Blue Jackets, on Dec. 1, they don’t have the iron will of which championship teams are made.
There have been too many times this season when they didn’t play hard and didn’t battle. None of that is on a coach. Before making a coaching change, management will want to be sure of how much the team’s failings are due to their players and how much is the fault of the coaching staff.
Finally, let’s be honest – it’s highly likely that the Senators’ season is over now. To clinch a playoff spot they’ll probably need 105 points and that means they’ll need to notch a points percentage (PTS%) of .685 from now to the end of the season. To grab a wild card spot they’ll probably need at least 95 points and that means they’ll need to register a PTS% of .605.
Yes, they beat up on the best team in the NHL, the New York Rangers on Dec. 5 and they boast the likes of Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk, but they are most assuredly not a .685 hockey club. I’d be hard-pressed to make the case that they are even a .600 team. So then why would Senators management be feeling any pressure at this point to make a coaching change?
I suspect senior management have acknowledged to themselves that a playoff appearance for the Senators next spring is unlikely and will therefore want to use the remainder of the season to get player and coaching personnel changes right. That’s why I think they will want to give Smith some extra time as bench boss to show that he can turn his team into a winner. There’s really nothing to lose. In fact, if they rush a decision to hire a new head coach and get it wrong, there may be much more to lose.
Still, despite all of this, let’s daydream a little and take a look at five coaches who could replace Smith.
Claude Julien
Raised in Orleans, Claude Julien is a native son of Ottawa who still resides in the nation’s capital. Fluently bilingual, he would fit in well with the culture of the National Capital Region.
Julien was most recently the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens where he coached “Les Glorieux” during a second stint with the team in 277 games over parts of five seasons spanning 2016-2021. He had previously coached the Habs from the middle of the 2002-03 season until Jan. 14, 2006, when he was fired.
Anyone who has coached in Montreal knows how to handle the pressure of coaching in Canada. That would serve him well in coping with the pressure from demanding Senators fans.
With the Boston Bruins, a team he guided to a Stanley Cup championship in 2011 and to a Cup Final series in 2013, he was the longest-tenured head coach in the league. He coached in Beantown for 10 seasons before being fired in February 2017.
In the 19 seasons he has coached in the NHL (2002-03 to 2020-21) Julien has been bench boss for 1,275 regular season games notching a win percentage (WIN%) of .523. In 124 playoff games behind the bench over his career, his WIN% is .548.
He is 19th all-time in games coached in the NHL and 16th all-time in wins. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in the 2008-09 season.
Claude Julien in his days as head coach of the Boston Bruins
Julien knows what it takes to win. The value of that in coaching a young team like the Senators can’t be overstated. He would quickly spot anyone on the roster who didn’t have what it takes to play on a championship team. Not only that, he would know what additional talent is required for a winning roster.
Julien has a reputation as a defence-first coach who emphasizes structure and detail. That’s something that the current edition of the Senators could surely use. This is a league in which successful teams tend to be those who can win games by just one goal. That in turn depends on tight defensive play – something Julien knows how to put in place.
Patrick Roy
Patrick Roy’s name comes up constantly in Ottawa as a potential successor to Smith. The problem with him is that he has accomplished far more as a player than he ever has as a coach.
In 2013-14, his first year as head coach with the Colorado Avalanche, he coached his team to the Central Division title with his team racking up an astonishing 112 points. He won the Jack Adams Award. Yet there it ends for his accomplishments as an NHL coach.
Related: Senators Should Consider Patrick Roy as Next Coach
Despite all of the accolades during his first year behind the bench, he coached his team to a first round exit in the playoffs. In the next two seasons the Avalanche tanked, missing postseason action in both years. Roy quit the team at the end of the 2016 season in what many considered a fit of pique over what he said was his lack of input into personnel decisions.
Roy boosters in Ottawa will point to his success as the head coach of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In the 10 seasons he has coached there since 2005-06, the Remparts have won six division titles, two Memorial Cups and made 12 playoff appearances. Even so, coaching teenage boys in the QMJHL is not the same as guiding an NHL team. And whether he’s been a success with the Remparts or not isn’t really up for debate in Quebec City because Roy owns the team.
Most Senators fans wanting to see him named head coach in Ottawa point out that he is “fiery” and would bring the competitive spirit the team needs to succeed. That’s one way to put it, but others would describe Roy behind the bench as akin to living in crazytown. What he brings isn’t competitive spirit, but chaos.
Who could forget Roy’s first regular-season game with the Avalanche as coach when he got into a screaming match with Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau? He nearly broke the partition separating the two teams’ benches trying to get to him.
Then there was the 2007 incident in Saugenay, Quebec when the local police investigated an incident involving Roy and Pierre Cardinal – co-owner of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. It was alleged by Cardinal that Roy threw punches at the him after he intervened in order to disperse a crowd of hockey fans who were blocking the Remparts’ bus after a game between the two clubs. Cardinal filed a criminal complaint for assault but later withdrew it.
The topper was another game against the Sagueneens the following season. In the second game of a playoff series, the Remparts found themselves trailing the Sagueneens 7–1. A brawl started and Remparts goaltender Jonathan Roy, Roy’s son, charged at the opposing goaltender. Roy was accused of inciting his son to fight. After an investigation by the QMJHL head office, Roy was suspended for five games and fined $4,000. His son Jonathan was suspended for seven games, fined $500 and later charged with assault.
In the past, violence has spilled over into Roy’s personal life. While playing for the Avalanche, Roy was arrested for domestic violence on Oct. 22, 2000. He was released on $750 bail. He and his wife were in an argument, and his wife made a hang up call to 911. Police found physical damage to the house and arrested Roy. Even so, the charge was dismissed because a judge ruled the incident did not meet the standard for criminal mischief in a case of domestic violence. Roy and his wife divorced in early 2003.
In addition to his temper, Roy is noted for bizarre superstitions. He frequently talked to the net posts and never talked to the media on days he was to play. Not only that, but he never let his skates touch the red and blue lines on the ice, instead stepping over them.
There is no debate about what Roy accomplished as a player. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. He won four Stanley Cups – two of which he won in Montreal where he is known as “Saint Patrick”. On Nov. 13, 2006, Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is the only player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (Most Valuable Player in the playoffs) three times in three different decades. Roy’s sweater has been retired by both the Canadiens and Avalanche.
Even so, great players don’t often make successful coaches. Just ask Wayne Gretzky. Given Roy’s thin coaching resume and volatile temperament, the Senators would be wise to give him a pass as head coach.
Gerard Gallant
Gerard Gallant is regarded as a motivator and can get early results from a team. However, except for the four seasons in which he coached the Blue Jackets, his tenure with the three other NHL clubs he has coached has not extended much beyond two years.
In Columbus, beginning in the 2003-04 season, he coached the Blue Jackets in 142 games to a losing record. The club never made the playoffs with him behind the bench.
As bench boss with the Florida Panthers in 2014-15, he got off to a spectacular start with his team going 38-29-5 for 91 points on the season – a franchise record. Success for Gallant continued the next season when he was made head coach of the Atlantic Division All-Star team and was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. Even so, early in the 2016-17 season, he was fired after a 10-11-1 start. In Florida he saw only one playoff appearance during which his team was eliminated in the first-round.
The following year as head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights he guided a motley collection of NHL castoffs to the Stanley Cup Final series during what was the club’s first year as part of the NHL. For this, he won the Jack Adams Award.
The next year the Golden Knights notched a disappointing .429 WIN% and were eliminated from the postseason in the first-round by the San Jose Sharks. Gallant was sent packing in January of the 2019-20 season.
Appointed coach of the Rangers in June 2021, he got off to another great start coaching the team to back-to-back 100-point seasons. Having coached the team to a conference final in 2021-22 and a first-round exit the following season, he left the Big Apple in the spring of 2023.
The question for Senators management regarding Gallant is whether he is an option for the long term. He can wave NHL coaching credentials around, but the teams he coaches never seem to see much success beyond an initial flourish after he takes over as coach.
Still, perhaps that’s what the Senators need – somebody to give them a jolt and help kick a culture of losing to the curb. Yet I suspect Senators management is long-term in its outlook and recognizes that a Stanley Cup championship for Ottawa won’t come easily or quickly. The coach they select must have staying power and that’s something Gallant hasn’t demonstrated.
Darryl Sutter
Many of the faithful on the Rideau Canal think the tough, no-nonsense Jack Adams Award-winning Darryl Sutter is just what the young Senators need to take them to the promised land. What could go wrong with a proven coach like Sutter they’ll ask.
After all, this is a man whose coaching career in the NHL spans more than 1,478 games over two decades dating back to the 1993-94 season with long stints as bench boss with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sharks, the Calgary Flames (twice) and the Los Angeles Kings.
In the 17 playoff appearances he has made behind an NHL bench, he has won two Stanley Cups, appeared in a third Stanley Cup Final series with Calgary which the Flames lost and two appearances in a conference final. To top it all off, he played in the NHL over seven seasons with the Blackhawks and comes from Alberta hockey royalty – he’s one of six Sutter boys from the same family who made it to the NHL.
Related: Calgary Flames Could Regret Choice of Sutter as Coach
Sutter is a defence-first coach whose teams rely on strong goaltending, big physical defencemen and two-way forwards. He demands a physical, aggressive style of play from players and every one of them must demonstrate a strong work ethic. He isn’t afraid to bench players and is willing to push every button a player has to pressure and motivate them. Yet in all of this lies the problem with Sutter as an NHL coach and of him as a coaching choice for the Senators in particular.
The Senators are a finesse team built on speed and skill. Sutter’s style of play is something they probably can’t deliver. Not only that, but Sutter doesn’t last long with today’s players. He is reputed to be sarcastic and condescending and has an explosive temper. He is not beyond publicly humiliating his players. That, combined with his direct and aggressive personality and the crushing seriousness he brings to the dressing room means that his players eventually quit playing for him.
The latest example of Sutter losing the room happened at the end of the 2021-22 season when two core pieces of the Flames – Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk – refused to commit to the team and left town. That followed the departure of Sam Bennett earlier in the year who left Cowtown to become a key part of the Panthers’ roster.
While the Flames went 50-21-11 and were first in the Pacific Division that season, these players wanted nothing further to do with Sutter or the franchise. That, despite the fact that Sutter won the Jack Adams Award during that campaign. His players probably had a different take on Sutter as a coach than the NHL broadcasters who awarded him the Jack Adams.
As with Gallant, Sutter is an option if all the Senators want to do is shake up what many dub a complacent roster lacking character. Even so, his old-school coaching style only works for so long before players rebel. Senators management should resist the temptation to bring him to Ottawa.
Brad Berry
Brad Berry has been the head coach of the highly successful University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (UND) since 2015. In his eight seasons behind the UND bench, he has coached the team to a 180-92-31 record for an impressive .645 WIN%. In his inaugural year as bench boss in the 2015-16 season, he coached UND to a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championship. Not only that, but he went on to coach his team to three National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) championships.
Among his honours is the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year Award given to the best coach in the NCHC. He has won it four times. Further bolstering the case for Berry coming to the Ottawa bench is that he cruised an NHL blue line in 241 games with the Winnipeg Jets, the Minnesota North Stars and the Dallas Stars.
While his name doesn’t come up often on social media as a potential Senators coach, Berry is an intriguing choice. He has developed many of the Senators’ young players including Jake Sanderson. He understands how to handle young talent and that would be a boon in Ottawa – a team that is fifth youngest in the NHL.
Some will argue that Berry has no NHL coaching experience and that the leap to the league directly from the ranks of the NCAA is too far. Tell that to Dave Hakstol who Berry replaced as head coach at UND. He went on to coach the Philadelphia Flyers over four seasons. In 2021-22 Hakstol took over as head coach with the Seattle Kraken where he is under contract to the end of the 2025-26 season.
Other NCAA coaches have gone directly to the NHL including Jim Montgomery, head coach of the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins and David Quinn, bench boss of the Sharks. More are likely to follow in their footsteps.
Senators Have Plenty of Head Coach Candidates to Consider
Readers will no doubt point out that I should have considered candidates the likes of Boudreau, Jay Woodcroft, Alain Vigneault and Dean Evason for Ottawa’s new coach. A case could certainly be made for any of them to come to Bytown.
However, I chose the five coaches I did not only because they come up often as choices Ottawa fans think their team should be considering, but because they are very different from one another. As such, they help provide a glimpse into the range of considerations and coaching styles that need to be taken into account by Senators management.
Arguably, the Senators haven’t spent a great deal of money on hiring head coaches in the past. Too often they’ve been journeyman coaches who would never be regarded as top-tier. That will no doubt change with the Senators’ new owners.
