A Head Coach Will Be GM Steve Staios’ Most Important Offseason Acquisition

While Steve Staios seeks to add to his roster next season, the Ottawa Senators general manager’s most important offseason decision will be the hiring of his club’s next head coach.

With the Senators missing the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons and fan angst settling in, it’s paramount that Staios gets this decision right. It’s the one decision the Senators’ GM can take full control of.

Staios will have Jacques Martin by his side, acting as a consultant, and Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations Dave Poulin to lean on for opinions, but it’s ultimately his final say on who will stake a claim behind the Senators’ bench for the 2024-24 campaign and beyond.

Staios originally added Martin as a senior coaching advisor on December 6 for the purpose of assisting head coach D.J. Smith and his staff, but only 12 days later, Smith and assistant coach Davis Payne were dismissed.

Martin was then elevated to interim head coach for the remainder of the season, returning to the bench he stood behind from the latter part of the 1995-96 season through 2003-04 where the 71 year-old’s teams were a playoff participant for eight straight years.

Joining him in this re-incarnation was Senators’ legend Daniel Alfredsson, who played under Martin in his formative years.

Martin, along with Alfredsson, finished this season with a respectable 26-26-4 record, earning praise from Staios.

“I do feel like he made a significant impact. I think when you’re evaluating coaches, you’re probably looking at the win-loss record first. But I think if you watched our games and how we played under Jacques, and how we grew as a team, I think that he had a significant impact and that was stability, but also professionalism detail, and the approach to the game. So I want to thank Jacques again for that,” said Staios at his media availabilty Friday.

During his availability, Staios admitted he had already interviewed two candidates, the first of many under consideration for the head coaching position.

“We have spoken to a couple of people. We have a longer list. I think making sure that we take the appropriate amount of time to be able to look at everybody that may be available is important. Now, if as we’re going through the process and we feel like we have the perfect candidate, you know, that we would move on it. But certainly at this point in time, we’re still working through our list.”

It’s believed former NHL head coaches Craig Berube, Dean Evason, Gerard Gallant, Don Granato, Claude Julien, and Todd McLellan are among those in the running, as are current Philadelphia Flyers’ assistant Brad Shaw and American League Toronto Marlies’ John Gruden. Gruden earned an Ontario League championship while at the helm of Senators’ owner Michael Andlauer’s Hamilton Bulldogs, a team in which Staios led as President and GM.

Another possible candidate who’s yet to enter the fray is Mike Sullivan. Teams including Buffalo, New Jersey and likely Ottawa are waiting it out to see Sullivan remains as Penguins head coach after a disappointing season. Sullivan has two Stanley Cup rings to his credit with Martin on his staff in a defense coaching role.

One person who’s already been ruled from becoming the next Senators’ head coach is Daniel Alfredsson.

Alfredsson recently admitted he still has a lot to learn before he can even contemplate such a move. Staios also said as much on Thursday.

“I had a great conversation with Alfie. I could say that he’s not going to be in consideration for the head coaching job at this point in time, and I think this is something that I think we left a little bit open-ended. But I think he does believe that if he does continue on the coaching path, that he’ll need a little bit more time.”

Generally, an incoming head coach is awarded the ability nominate his own assistant or two, given this, what will become of existing assistants Jack Capuano, Bob Jones, Ben Sexton, goalie coach Justin Peters and video coach Mike King?

Bob Jones spent the majority of the season in Windsor while he and his family continued to deal with his ALS diagnosis. Senators’ development coach Jesse Winchester filled in on occasion as the team’s “eye in the sky.”

Staios told Full Press Hockey, “I can’t thank them enough… I’m not sure how it all unfolds for them. But certainly no, I have no problem saying that. I welcome each and every one.”aches in time to sort of let things unfold. In our process of bringing in a head coach, there’s a number of ways that it looks as far as building up the support staff. I think very highly of all of our coaches and the job that they’ve done – extremely passionate and talented people.”

With Staios and his hockey operations staff waiting it out to see if more candidates shake loose from other organizations, there’s no timeline on when a coach is hired, that is unless he finds the right fit sooner than later.

“Hard to tell, I think, you know, if some of these conversations move along more briskly and we feel comfortable that they’re checking the boxes to be our next head coach for the Ottawa Senators, we would move on it. It’s hard to tell from a timing perspective,” Staios noted.

For a veteran player like Claude Giroux, he just wants a coach who can get the best out of his players.

“A lot of good coaches out there obviously, and I’m sure Steve and his staff are looking at all the possibilities. But you know there’s a lot of guys out there I don’t know, some guys that have coached me before. There’s no coach with a special recipe, it’s about being able to have a coach with the system and us players to be able to play the way he wants us to do.” Giroux said at his exit availability Thursday.