The Ottawa Senators have officially made a decision with their coaching staff, opting to hire Travis Green as their newest head coach. After relieving D.J. Smith of his duties last season, they have been looking for a replacement ever since in hopes of turning their team around. As the Senators are in the middle of a rebuild and finished the season with yet another losing record, they believe Green can be someone that brings them from the bottom of the barrel to a contender, however, this move might be one of the worst decisions in franchise history. With Steve Staios recently taking over as general manager and hoping to turn the team around, this hiring is a step in the opposite direction.
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Green has never been successful as a head coach, no matter where he has been. Over five seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, he had a losing record going 133-147-34 before they fired him 25 games into the 2021-22 season. He had served as the assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils until near the end of the 2023-24 season where they named him the interim head coach for 21 games after the team relieved Lindy Ruff of his duties. In those 21 games, he went 8-12-1 and wasn’t able to bring the Devils close to a playoff spot.
Now, a fresh face is always a good thing when it comes to a team needing change. The Senators needed a new head coach considering how poorly Smith was performing as he couldn’t turn the team around and consistently found himself coaching a team that was near the bottom of the standings. While the roster itself does still need some improvements, adding Green as their new head coach when there were several stronger candidates available doesn’t seem smart whatsoever.
Senators Missed Out on Stronger Candidates
Many teams around the NHL decided to make some changes to their coaching staff this season and will be looking for a new bench boss. The Senators have locked up Green, but have missed out on several stronger candidates who would have been a better choice for them to hire. Jay Woodcroft, Craig Berube, Todd McLellan, Dean Evason, and Gerard Gallant are all still unemployed and expected to pick up new gigs this upcoming season, and have proven themselves to be stronger coaches than Green.
Woodcroft had a tough start with the Edmonton Oilers this season and was let go, but he finished his time in Edmonton with a record of 79-41-13. Berube is a proven winner having coached both the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues, and he has a current all-time record of 281-190-72. McLellan is a veteran head coach, and currently sits with a record of 598-412-134 after coaching the Oilers, San Jose Sharks, and Los Angeles Kings. Evason coached parts of five seasons with the Minnesota Wild finishing with a record of 147-77-27. Lastly, Gallant has a record of 369-262-4-70 having coached with four different teams.
Despite these candidates still being available, the Senators decided to hire someone who has only had one season with a winning record, and has no success as a head coach. This seems like a stab in the back to diehard Sens fans who have continued supporting their team despite many questionable decisions over the past several seasons. For the fans’ sake, I do hope Green can magically turn it around and bring the Senators back to the postseason, but I just don’t see it happening. His track record of being a losing coach is likely to continue with a weaker team than he’s ever dealt with.
The Senators will look forward to free agency and the upcoming 2024 NHL Entry Draft with hopes of improving their team. They have the seventh overall selection in the upcoming draft and hope they can find a future star to add to their already young roster. At the end of the day, they will have to live with this decision and hope it pays off. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be a positive addition to their team.
