Coaching Carousel: Who Replaces DJ Smith?

DJ Smith is the coach of the Ottawa Senators, the question is, how long will he have this title?

DJ Smith has been the coach of the Ottawa Senators since the beginning of the 2019-2020 season. He is currently in his fourth season as coach of the Ottawa Senators and with that his fourth season as an NHL head coach. He has seen a good deal of hardship in his time with the Sens, as he was hired in the middle of a rebuild. He’s helped develop numerous players so far, and has been a good coach so far to a rebuilding team. The issue is, the team is ready to hit that next level, and it’s time to decide if DJ Smith is the proper coach for this hockey team.

First, let’s talk about DJ’s Tenure so far

DJ Smith currently sits tied for second in franchise wins with 114, tying with Paul MacLean. This number at first stands out as impressive, being the second winningest coach for a 30 year old NHL team sounds great, but when you dive deeper into the numbers, DJ has been here for far longer than most Senators coaches. The Senators have seen 12 coaches in this time (not counting Roger Neilson’s two games as coach in April 2002) and these twelve coaches have averaged 196 games. If you take away Jacques Martin’s 692 games as coach, this number drops to 150 games. That’s not even a full two seasons. DJ Smith alone has coached 275 games with the Ottawa Senators over four seasons. He has a point percentage of .465, and even considering the Sens have been in a rebuild for his entire tenure, this is underwhelming. This season alone, the Senators have finally reached the point where playoffs are a possibility. Albeit unlikely, still a possibility. This year’s edition of the Ottawa Senators are the best team that DJ has had the opportunity to coach, having numerous stars and numerous options, yet he still isn’t able to get a consistent effort out of the team.

A key issue that fans have with DJ is his failure to deploy players in the correct roles, and favoring veterans a little too much. On numerous occasions, he has favored older players when it comes to ice-time, and being reluctant to give younger players ice time. The biggest victim of this has easily been Erik Brannstrom. Despite being 23 years old, and being considered a “Full-Time NHLer” since the 2020-21 season, he has not passed the 60 game mark in a full season yet. This season should be his first 60 game season as he is currently sitting at 58 games played for the Sens in 2022-23. While injuries have for sure contributed to these numbers, DJ has been extremely reluctant to give this Swedish a legitimate chance, despite being amongst the best defenders on the team. DJ has routinely scratched Brannstrom in favor of Nick Holden. Holden was great last season for the Sens but has regressed tremendously in his age 35 season. This is no slight against Holden, I’m just saying that DJ Smith is playing a defenseman who should be the 7th defender over the guy who has the BEST defensive metrics on your blue-line this year. I will say, I’m thankful for the strides that the team has made under Smith, but in my opinion it’s time for a new voice.

If not DJ Smith, who is the next coach of the Ottawa Senators?

Had I written this piece just a month ago, I’d only be considering one man for the job. I would be saying that Troy Mann should undoubtedly be the next “mann” behind the bench in Ottawa. Unfortunately that will not be the case as he was recently let go by the Belleville Senators. For the purposes of this article, I will bring up a few coaches that I feel could improve the Ottawa Senators record next season.

Bruce Boudreau

Bruce Boudreau was recently let go by the Vancouver Canucks, which mean’s he’s available to coach! Back when Pierre Dorion was first appointed as General Manager of the Ottawa Senators, and he was conducting interviews to replace outgoing coach Dave Cameron, Boudreau was one of the many coaches interviewed. The Sens eventually hired Guy Boucher, leaving Boudreau to go to the Minnesota Wild and then the Vancouver Canucks, but is now available, and the connection to Ottawa’s GM already exists. Boudreau is a player’s coach who has had tremendous success coaching star-studded teams. Boudreau coached Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals for many years before going to the Anaheim Ducks. He was able to revitalize young star Elias Pettersson during his short tenure in Vancouver, and coached JT Miller to a 99 point season. He is an offensive-styled coach that could utilize the likes of Tim Stützle, Alex DeBrincat, Brady Tkachuk and all the other great players the Ottawa Senators utilize every night.

Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy is another experienced NHL coach that strives off of an offensive system. He is currently coaching the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL but has recently expressed interest in making a return to the NHL. He previously coached the Colorado Avalanche before stepping away in 2016. Patrick Roy seems like a great option to me as he could start as Head Coach and eventually step into a GM or President of Hockey Operations role with whatever team he goes to when he makes his inevitable NHL return. He has seen the lowest of lows in terms of rebuilds and has seen some success with the Remparts.

Rikard Gronborg

Rikard Gronborg has been on the top of the list of European Head Coaches who will make their way to the NHL at some point for a long time now. For Ottawa’s next coach, a lot of people want an NHL proven coach, which makes sense but I feel like Gronborg should be the exception to that. He most recently the ZCS Lions in Switzerland before being let go in favor of former Senators coach Marc Crawford, but is best known as head coach of the Swedish National Team. Gronborg has won a lot on the international front. His numerous medals are highlighted by his Olympic Silver Medal with the Swedish National Team in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He is the longtime coach of the Swedish World Juniors team and has shown he can properly develop young Swedish players. He has ties to the Senators as he coached legend Daniel Alfredsson on numerous occasions. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with when he gets his NHL chance, and I’m hoping Ottawa is amongst the teams considering his services.

Want your voice heard? Join the SenShot team!

Write for us!

Closing Thoughts

Considering the options are endless, it was difficult to limit this article to three names. The NHL has seen many coaches in it’s long history, but the three names I have mentioned are my top candidates for the Sens bench-boss job should the team decide to move on from DJ Smith. Other names to be considered could be Derek King of the Chicago Blackhawks, Andrew Brunette of the Florida Panthers, Kris Knoblauch of the Hartford Wolfpack, Benoit Groulx of the Syracuse Crunch, or even Mike Vellucci of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Out of the names I discussed earlier, my top option would be Rikard Gronborg followed by Patrick Roy. I would like to see Roy be considered for President of Hockey Operations, but that’s an idea for another day.