Capuano has been an associate coach in Ottawa for the past five seasons and was spared the axe when head coach DJ Smith was fired earlier this season.

The Ottawa Senators and new head coach Travis Green are starting to make some hard decisions about their coaching staff for next season. According to The Athletic, associate coach Jack Capuano's contract was not renewed. 

Michael Russo says the Sens and Capuano have parted ways and links Capuano to a new job opening with the Minnesota Wild, who fired Darby Hendrickson as an assistant on Friday. Russo says Wild head coach John Hynes has a long history with Capuano. While they haven't worked together in the NHL, they have coached various Team USA teams together over the years.

It was somewhat of a mystery back in December when GM Steve Staios fired head coach D.J. Smith and assistant coach Davis Payne but left Capuano in place. But the decision was probably based less on merit and more on need. With interim head coach Jacques Martin physically unable to run practices, they needed someone to do it, someone with reasonable NHL coaching experience.

For most of his time in Ottawa, Capuano coached the blue line, which has struggled defensively for a long time but no more than the forwards. 

Just three years ago, the Buffalo Sabres reportedly asked the Senators for permission to speak to Capuano, but the Sens denied the request. And there were hard feelings about it. It also led to speculation that past management eyed Capuano at the time as their plan B if they had to part company with Smith. Obviously, a lot has changed since then.

The Senators have not officially announced the status of any of their assistant coaches. But the addition of Nolan Baumgartner remains a very safe bet. For over eight seasons, Green has had Baumgartner at his side for almost every game of his professional coaching career.

Multiple reports continue to indicate Alfredsson and Mike Yeo are the front runners to fill out the rest of Green's staff.