The Ottawa Senators replaced D.J. Smith with Jacques Martin for now, and they named Daniel Alfredsson as an assistant coach.
The Ottawa Senators decided to change coaches, relieving D.J. Smith of his coaching duties on Monday.
Jacques Martin becomes the team's interim head coach, while longtime Senators captain and Hockey Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson is named an assistant coach. Assistant coach Davis Payne was also relieved of his duties.
The Senators currently rank last in the Eastern Conference with an 11-15-0 record for 22 points. Their .423 points percentage ranks second-last in the East and fifth-last in the league. While their 3.35 goals-for per game rank 10th in the NHL, their 3.42 goals against per game rank 26th. Their special teams are subpar as well, ranking 21st on the power play and 31st on the penalty kill.
Smith, 46, joined the Senators in 2019-20 to help develop the young players and lead the team out of a rebuild. However, the Senators missed the playoffs last season despite adding Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat, and they've lost four straight and seven of their last 10 contests. Ottawa now has a 19-percent chance of making the playoffs this season, according to moneypuck.com.
The Windsor, Ont., native finishes his coaching duties with the team with a 131-154-32 record over parts of five seasons.
Before joining the Sens, Smith was an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs and bench boss of the Oshawa Generals and Windsor Spitfires, where he captured back-to-back Memorial Cups.
As for Martin, he's back to coach the Senators for now.
The 71-year-old from Rockland, Ont., previously coached the Senators from part of 1995-96 to 2003-04, amassing a 341-235-96-20 regular-season record and 31-38 playoff record. He's the Senators' all-time leader in games coached (692), regular-season wins, playoff wins and playoff games coached (69).
Martin also coached the St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens. He ranks 17th all-time in the NHL for most games coached (1,294) and 22nd in wins (613).
Under Martin, the Senators made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In fact, they made the post-season every year under Martin as part of an 11-year playoff streak and finished first in the Northeast Division three times during his first stint.
Interim GM and president of hockey operations Steve Staios initially hired Martin on Dec. 6 to be a senior advisor to Smith and the coaching staff. Staios said at the time that Martin brings a strategic vision and "extensive expertise" that will benefit Smith and the staff. It appeared as the team's last effort to find success under Smith, whom captain Brady Tkachuk and his teammates frequently praised. Since then, the team won one game out of six.
Former captain Alfredsson becomes a regular assistant coach in The Show for the first time. He was on the bench for the Senators' two games in Sweden as part of the NHL Global Series, both wins against the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild.
Alfredsson, a 51-year-old from Gothenburg, Sweden, is the Senators' all-time leader in points (1,108), goals (426) and assists (682). The 1996 Calder Trophy winner played 1,178 regular-season games across 17 seasons with Ottawa, including 13 as captain.
He's expected to be behind the bench with Martin on Tuesday as the Senators face the 15-13-2 Arizona Coyotes on Game 4 of a five-game road trip.
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