Sens fire D.J. Smith, Jacques Martin named interim coach
The Ottawa Senators dismissed head coach D.J. Smith, the club announced Monday. Jacques Martin is taking over as interim bench boss, while Daniel Alfredsson joins the staff as an assistant coach.
Ottawa has lost four straight games and five of its last six, including a 6-3 defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. The Sens sit in last place in the Atlantic Division with an 11-15-0 record.
"I was encouraged for five games, even though we only won three there were signs of improvement," president of hockey operations and interim general manager Steve Staios said Monday. "When I saw our game revert back to where it was before, that’s when it was time.”
Smith was in the midst of his fifth season coaching the club. Ottawa went 131-154-32 in that span, missing the playoffs in all five campaigns and finishing no higher than sixth in the division.
The Senators hired Martin as a senior advisor to the coaching staff earlier in December. He was their bench boss from 1995-96 through 2003-04 and has also guided the St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers, and Montreal Canadiens.
"A lot of our issues in team play are the strengths of Jacques Martin," Staios said. "Detailed, organized structured. To me, he's the perfect fit in what we were lacking in those areas."
Martin won the Jack Adams Award with the Senators in 1998-99. He last held a full-time NHL head coaching job with Montreal in 2011-12. However, he has extensive experience as an assistant since then, working with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2013-20 in both coaching and executive capacities and as an assistant with the New York Rangers during the abbreviated 2021 campaign.
Martin took over the Blueshirts bench for six games when David Quinn was in COVID-19 protocol in 2021.
Alfredsson is Ottawa's all-time leader in goals, assists, and points. The Senators' longtime captain also ranks second in franchise history in games played, trailing Chris Phillips by one contest. In November, Alfredsson worked with the team's coaching staff on the bench for the club's two games in his homeland of Sweden. He wore the "C" for Ottawa from 1999-2000 through 2012-13.
"When you bring in someone like Daniel Alfredsson, he's going to have an impact in all areas," Staios said.
Senators owner Michael Andlauer continues to overhaul the club's leadership group. He fired general manager Pierre Dorion on Nov. 2, appointing Staios to the role on an interim basis. Andlauer took over the team on Sept. 21.