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Ottawa’s search for a new head coach is underway, although there isn’t much of a rush, as they could realistically spend all of May conducting interviews. There hasn’t been too much discussion about who they could be targeting, although it seems like we have most of the names. They were apparently interested in officially interviewing 5-6 candidates, meaning the names listed might be the only ones who are seriously considered. Let’s go through who the Senators could choose as their next head coach (in no particular order):
Marc Crawford
He has the inside track for the job considering he was the interim coach to finish the season. He is familiar with the organization, and vice versa. That could work well for him, but it might also work against him if Pierre Dorion is also aware of his flaws. He was the assistant coach during the past two unsuccessful seasons as well, so it’s not as if he is totally blameless alongside Guy Boucher. Ottawa’s special teams were nowhere near as good under his watch as an assistant, and I think if they hired him full-time, they would really be limiting themselves by having someone who hasn’t been a head coach outside of Ottawa since 2010-11.
It would be an easy route to take the interim label off him, but my gut says they will go in a different direction.
Jacques Martin
Martin is reportedly one of the Buffalo Sabres top candidates for their opening, so the Senators might have to do some bidding if they want to get Martin for a second time around. He has won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach, although he hasn’t been a head coach since 2011-12 with Montreal. He lasted eight and a half seasons in Ottawa and he was obviously very successful despite not being able to get his teams over the hump in the playoffs. At the same time, I’m not sure if he is the right man for the job in 2019. If he does get re-hired, I will give him a chance of course, but I’m not sure it’s the best idea to go back to an old coach, especially because the league has changed so much in the past 15 years.
Yes, he has the Stanley Cups now, but it’s hard to say how much influence he had on those teams as an assistant. Again, I’m not fully opposed to bringing back literally the best coach this team has ever had, but I just can’t see him being the long-term solution.
Mike Yeo
Yeo was one of the top candidates in 2016 before Ottawa hired Guy Boucher, and it looks like they are interested in him once again. Considering how disliked he was by both Minnesota and St. Louis fans by the end of his tenures there, I really don’t think he is the right choice. Yes, he has been the head coach of two NHL teams, but he was essentially one of the worst coaches in the league during that time, and I would much rather go with a different name.
Troy Mann
Mann is an interesting option, as he had a successful first season in Belleville despite not making the playoffs. Ottawa’s top prospects in the AHL were their best players and also had the most ice time, and that’s all you can ask of an AHL head coach. That makes me optimistic that he would be a good coach for a rebuilding team, as he would be comfortable with the younger players, especially the ones that he coached this past season. He is familiar with many players in the organization, so he might be able to do a good job. Before Belleville, he spent the previous four seasons as the Hershey Bears head coach, although the only other head coaching he has done was in the ECHL, so he doesn’t have a ton of experience compared to some other candidates. Having said that, I’d be willing to give him a shot.
Nate Leaman
I’m not going to lie, I had not heard of Leaman until Wednesday when Bruce Garrioch brought him up as someone who the Senators could be interested in. He has spent the past eight seasons at Providence College, where he took them to a National Title in 2015. He has apparently also talked to the Buffalo Sabres for their opening too, and he might be a bit of a longshot for the Senators job. It would be interesting for the Senators to go the College route for a coach, as that has been more of a recent trend in the NHL with people such as Jim Montgomery, Dave Hakstol, and David Quinn coming from there.
Just like with Mann, he would hopefully be better with younger players, so I’m intrigued by him by default. I know nothing of his tactical skills, but he has a solid track record at Providence.
Sheldon Keefe
Keefe hasn’t been officially connected to the Senators, so this is more of a dream candidate than anything. He is highly regarded within the Maple Leafs organization as the coach of the Toronto Marlies, and I’m sure he is being paid quite well to stay with them. He might not even be willing to take a job in Ottawa, plus the Senators might not see him as a top option anyway. However, it would be smart to at least take a look.
He has spent the past four seasons with the Marlies, and he won the Championship last season as well. The Marlies have been incredibly successful under his watch, making it to at least the second round in every single season so far. He seems like a modern coach who is able to adapt to a new style of hockey, and I think he is exactly the kind of person that the Senators need to bring to their organization. Sadly, I don’t think that is going to happen.
Brad Shaw
Shaw has been brought up on Twitter from various people, although I don’t know how official his name is in this race. The former Ottawa Senator has been an assistant coach in Columbus for the past three seasons, and he was in St. Louis for the previous nine out of ten seasons before that. The only time he was a head coach was when he had the interim tag for New York Islanders in 2005-06, so it’s hard to say if he would be well suited for anything more than an assistant role. He was an AHL head coach for three seasons, although that was back in 2002-2005. For what it’s worth, he seems to be beloved by the media and fans alike on Twitter, but I don’t think he is a frontrunner.
Mystery name(s)
There might be another name or two that I have missed, or a name might pop out of nowhere in the next few weeks.
It shouldn’t be more than a few weeks before we find out who the next coach is, and even though Ottawa is going through a rebuild, this next hire is still incredibly important in order to stabilize their coaching position for once.
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