Ottawa Senators name D.J. Smith as new head coach
The Ottawa Senators have unveiled D.J. Smith as the organisation’s new head coach, taking over on a permanent basis from Guy Boucher.
D.J. Smith had been one of seven candidates interviewed by the Ottawa Senators, with the likes of Rick Bowness, Jacques Martin and Patrick Roy all considered for the top coaching job in the Canadian capital.
Marc Crawford, an associate coach under Guy Boucher before taking the reins on an interim basis last season, appeared to still be in the running late in the process but will now seemingly need to seek a new opportunity.
That is unless Smith is interested in bringing him back as an associate or assistant, with the former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant now needing to build his own coaching group in Ottawa.
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The hiring of the 42-year-old Smith is likely to split the fanbase in Ottawa, with Smith being highly regarded by a number of teams around the league for quite some time as well as having some struggles with the Leafs this year – particularly in the playoffs.
Smith was in charge of the Leafs’ defence under head coach Mike Babcock, particularly focused on the team’s penalty killing unit – which earned a 79.9% success rate during the regular season, good for 16th overall in the league.
During the playoffs, the Boston Bruins tore apart the Leafs’ PK and saw the team drop to a second-worst 56.3%, just above the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 50%.
Prior to his time with the Leafs, Smith was the head coach of the Oshawa General, having previously been an assistant and associate coach for many years with his hometown Windsor Spitfires.
During his tenure as head coach of the Generals, Smith was named OHL Coach of the Year after the 2013/14 season and then went on to lead the team to an OHL Championship and the Memorial Cup.
His defensive work in the NHL along with his long career working with young players is undoubtedly what has attracted the Ottawa Senators to Smith – with the team looking build up from the blueline with what is likely to be an extremely young corps over the next few seasons.
There will be plenty of scrutiny on this hiring, with Smith now needing to prove he can improve on what he did in Toronto and bring in a coaching group that is going to help the Senators grow.
The fact he has been given a three-year deal means the organisation are satisfied with him being the guy throughout their rebuilding phase – where results will not matter early on, especially if the team can be put in a position to land the likes of Alexis Lafreniere in the 2020 draft.
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What do you think of the hiring of Smith as the team’s head coach Sens fans? Who would you have preferred to see hired? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!