During D.J. Smith's Time in Ottawa, 11 Other NHL Head Coaches Have Been Both Hired and Fired

When you consider the shelf life of most head coaches in the NHL, no matter what happens next, the Senators have been extremely patient and fair with D.J. Smith.

Dec 18, 2022; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith looks on during the first period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports - During D.J. Smith's Time in Ottawa, 11 Other NHL Head Coaches Have Been Both Hired and Fired

As D.J. Smith helps coach Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships, his future back home as Senators head coach remains in limbo. Will the next owner be on board with Smith's return? Will Pierre Dorion even be around to endorse him?

At the end of the season, Dorion offered no guarantees for Smith, his coach for the past four seasons. And that’s fairly sensible. Why bother doing anything in regards to Smith before ownership is sorted out?

If Dorion stepped up this week and told Smith he’s going to be back this fall, a new owner might just roll in and say, “Hang on, we have a different guy in mind.” And since Dorion’s job isn’t guaranteed either, why would he bother going through the unpleasantness of firing Smith if he also ends up getting pushed out after the sale?

What we know is that Smith has two years left on his contract and the final year is a team option. And if the Sens do decide it’s time to part company with Smith, no one can say he wasn’t given a fair opportunity. Or at least the version of fair used by the NHL, where general managers are allowed to treat coaches like disposable razors.

Smith has coached 291 games with the Senators, the sixth most in the NHL. That trails only Jon Cooper, Mike Sullivan, Jared Bednar and Craig Berube, who all have Cup rings. The other guy is Rod Brind’Amour, who at .661, has a better regular season points percentage than any of the aforementioned Cup holders.

That’s some pretty accomplished company for a guy like Smith, who’s never coached a single NHL playoff game yet. Yes, Smith has had to deal with a rebuild and injuries. But he's not exactly the first NHL coach in history who's been dealt that hand.

Meanwhile, the list of head coaches who’ve been both hired and fired after Smith, some with better records than Smith, is getting pretty long.

By the way, a special shoutout to Rick Bowness, who was hired and fired and hired since Smith joined the Sens on May 23, 2019. And after taking a flame thrower to his Jets' locker room after their final game, it looked for a minute like Bowness was trying to lap the field.

No less than 11 different head coaches who were all hired after Smith are now out of a job (we left interim coaches out of this). Here's the list, ranked by day of hiring.

Dave Tippett: Hired May 28, 2019-Gone February 2022

Dallas Eakins: Hired June 2019-Gone April 2023

Geoff Ward: Hired November 2019-Gone March 2021

Rick Bowness: Hired Dec 2019-Gone May 2022-Hired in July 2022

Peter Laviolette Hired September 2020-Gone April 2023

Bob Boughner: Hired September 2020-Gone June 2022

Dominique Ducharme: Hired February 2021-Gone February 2022

Darryl Sutter: Hired March 2021-Gone May 2023

Gerard Gallant: Hired June 2021-Gone May 2023

Brad Larsen: Hired June 2021-Gone April 2023

Bruce Boudreau: Hired December 2021-Gone January 2023

For those of you scoring along at home (or maybe you've got a pool going), Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe, who’s currently on the hotseat in Toronto, was hired in November of 2019.

Meanwhile, no matter what happens with D.J. Smith in Ottawa this summer – whether he stays or goes – he's already received a fairer shake than a lot of coaches in the NHL, where fairness and patience are both in short supply.