Gruden worked with Senators owner Michael Andlauer and president Steve Staios while coaching the OHL's Hamilton Bulldogs from 2016 to 2018.
Gruden worked with Senators owner Michael Andlauer and president Steve Staios while coaching the OHL's Hamilton Bulldogs from 2016 to 2018.
Could Marlies head coach John Gruden be out the door as quickly as he entered it?
The Maple Leafs hired Gruden on July 4, 2023, as the new bench boss for the AHL's Toronto Marlies. Before being named head coach of the Marlies, he was an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins in their historic season last year. Gruden was also an assistant with the New York Islanders from 2018-2022.
There's been a lot of chatter about who'll be the next head coach in Ottawa following the Senators' firing of head coach D.J. Smith on Monday.
One person in reports is Gruden, who knows both Senators owner Michael Andlauer and president and interim general manager Steve Staios very well. Gruden coached the OHL's Hamilton (now Brantford) Bulldogs for two seasons, leading them to an OHL championship in 2018.
Andlauer is still the owner of the Bulldogs, and Staios, back in 2018, while Gruden was there, was the team's president and general manager.
During 32 Thoughts: The Podcast on Friday, Sportsnet's Jeff Marerk and Elliotte Friedman discussed the possibility of the now-Marlies head coach joining Ottawa.
Marek first called Gruden "a person of interest" for the Senators. But Friedman took it a little further, saying: "I think he's got a shot at that job."
"I do think this: I think the Senators, one thing that's very clear, like someone said to me, if they wanted (Jay) Woodcroft, if they wanted (Dean) Evason, if they wanted somebody who was available now, they could've hired them already. I guess that's true in Ottawa's case, but I don't think they want to think like that. Ottawa's identified its young core... They have one shot to get this right with a coaching hire to make sure that when these guys are in their prime, they're going to be able to win.
"They are not going to rush into anything, I don't think. The one thing that can change here is if they get a chance to talk to Gruden in-season and he knocks their socks off, I guess that could always happen. Possibly. But the one thing that they have said to people is: 'We have to get this right.'"
Gruden, as head coach, has led Toronto to a 13-7-3-1 record this season, good enough for third in the league's North Division. The 53-year-old considers himself a player's coach who's not afraid to push guys when they need it.
"I think (the players) want a coach that's invested. Like, they know that he has their back at the end of the day," Gruden said in a one-on-one interview with The Hockey News in October.
"Like, they want to know that I'm there to help them. I'm not there to tear them down, I'm there to support them through tough times, because times are tough. And the last thing a player needs is a coach to be down his throat all the time and not be there to support him."
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