The Ottawa Senators have their new head coach in Travis Green. Will he keep the current staff or bring in his own people?
The Ottawa Senators will begin a new season this fall with a new head coach behind the bench for the first time in five years. Travis Green's first goal will be to get off to a good start to the season, a target his predecessor, D.J. Smith, was never able to hit. Under Smith, the Senators always managed to destroy their season within the first two months.
But like any NHL coaching staff, Green's voice won't be the only one behind the bench, trying to guide the troops back into form this fall. He'll need a few assistant coaches. Will Green want to bring back some or all of last season's coaches? Or will he try and sweep things clean and bring in guys he's familiar with?
According to the Senators website (as they appear on the hockey operations page), the staff today still includes associate coach Jack Capuano and assistants Daniel Alfredsson, Bob Jones, and Ben Sexton.
GM Steve Staios indicated at season's end, a few weeks before Green's hiring, that he would be wide open to bringing back the entire staff, strongly suggesting that he'd be deferring to his head coach on those decisions.
When Green was hired, he spoke specifically about Alfredsson's status.
"I really look forward to speaking with Daniel Alfredsson to get his thoughts and ideas, where he wants to go, and if he wants to be a coach full-time. I'm open to everything that he wants to do."
The Senators hired Capuano as an associate coach in the 2019 offseason. From beginning to end, Capuano was Smith's right-hand man in Ottawa. As it was with Smith, Capuano, who's on an expiring contract, has coached more games as a head coach (483) than Green (335).
In a hockey world where connections mean so much, it should be noted that Capuano was Staios's head coach for his final season in the league, 2011-12, with the New York Islanders. If Staios weren't a fan, he probably would have blown out Capuano while taking out Smith and assistant Davis Payne this season.
At 32, Sexton is one of the league's youngest coaches. After two years as an assistant in Belleville, this was Sexton's first year in the NHL behind a bench. Jones was diagnosed with ALS last year.
If Green wants changes, and has free rein to make them, Nolan Baumgartner will likely be his first call. Green has been a full time head coach in the pro ranks for eight and a half years, split between AHL Utica and the Vancouver Canucks, and Baumgartner has been his assistant for all of it. Vancouver fired him along with Green three years ago.
John Gruden and Jay McKee won OHL titles in Hamilton for Staios and Michael Andlauer. Gruden is the Toronto Marlies' head coach and didn't get a glance after Sheldon Keefe's firing. McKee is still head coach of Andlauer's Bulldogs, who now reside in Brantford. If Staios and Andlauer wanted one or both of those men to be on their coaching staff again, they could easily have made that a condition during talks with Green.
Newell Brown is another intriguing name. He rode shotgun with Green during his entire time in Vancouver. The well-regarded Cornwall native has put together an impressive 27 straight years as an NHL assistant coach.
Brown has been the Ducks' assistant for the past three years, and his contract was not renewed at the end of the season. That was his third different coaching stint as an assistant with Anaheim, where he won a Stanley Cup (at the Sens expense) in 2007. Ottawa's new director of player personnel and head of pro scouting, Rob DiMaio, just came from Anaheim, so Brown would likely have an ally in DiMaio as well.
Would Brad Shaw, who coached under Green in Vancouver, fancy a return to Ottawa, where he once captained both the Senators and 67's? Shaw is now an assistant in Philadelphia.
There's a long list of possibilities and some tough decisions ahead for the new head coach. No one ever said it was easy being Green.