Senators Decide to Keep Their AHL Head Coach, Now What About D.J. Smith?

As the Ottawa Senators and the NHL continue the process of trying to sell the franchise, the hockey operations department still have chores they can't neglect this summer. Today, the team’s brain trust checked one item off their to-do list, officially hiring David Bell as head coach of their top minor league affiliate, the Belleville Senators.

The former Ottawa 67 took over the club on an interim basis in February following the surprise firing of Troy Mann. Bell had been working under Mann as an assistant and now becomes a full-time head coach in the AHL for the first time.

“David is very deserving of this promotion,” Senators GM Pierre Dorion said in a club statement. “His transition from assistant to the interim head coaching position this past winter was seamless. We’ve witnessed good synergy between coaching staffs at the AHL and NHL levels which continues to be vital for an organization seeking to take the next step in both leagues.”

That last part – the synergy between Belleville and Ottawa – seemed to be at least part of the reason Mann was fired in February. Belleville GM Ryan Bowness said if there were one specific reason for the change, it was that the cohesion between Ottawa and Belleville and their communication lines needed to be better.

Bell was immediately careful with his communication, apparently deciding less is more. Shortly after the Mann firing, Bell was asked directly (at the 2:05 mark) about goalie Kevin Mandolese picking up his first NHL win. Bell went 100 miles out of his way to not praise or even mention the young goalie prospect who was the subject of the question. It was basically Bell Don’t Talk Day.

Whatever the organization wanted to see from him (or not see) down the stretch, Bell delivered.

“The team’s performance over the last two-and-a-half months of the season buoyed David’s candidacy tremendously,” Belleville GM Ryan Bowness said. “The players’ individual preparation, commitment to detail and collective determination in pursuit of a playoff spot through the last week of the season have us confident that David is the right person for this role.”

Bell’s assistant coach will continue to be former Senator Ben Sexton, son of former Sens’ GM Randy Sexton. Former Carolina Hurricanes goalie Justin Peters will stay on as goalie coach.

Meanwhile, with the sale of the NHL club likely just weeks away, it’s interesting that Dorion and Bowness have resumed conducting business as usual. While Dorion’s fate lies entirely in the hands of new owners, the future of D.J. Smith and his staff is in Dorion's hands. And Smith received no job guarantees from his GM at the end of the season. 

Now that Dorion has clarified Belleville’s head coaching situation, it’s certainly possible he might now turn his attention toward Ottawa's coaching future.

But Dorion might also jump on the path of least resistance, wait things out, and see what happens with ownership. Why rush now to announce a decision to keep Smith when it won’t do a single thing for Smith’s job security? A new GM still might roll in and want his own head coach anyway. 

Conversely, why bother with the nasty, unpleasant experience of firing someone you consider a friend, while there’s a chance you might be gone later this summer as well? For those reasons, coaching might be an issue you want to drop altogether for now. Or if you want to kiss up to a potential new owner, you "Drop it Like it's Hot."