Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios announced in his year-end press conference on Friday that Daniel Alfredsson, who went behind the bench in an interim assistant coaching role, will not be a head coaching candidate for the 2024-25 season.
He also went on to say Alfredsson, who re-joined the Senators organization last October after a brief stint with the club’s hockey operations department in 2016-17, will need more time to decide on what his role will be with Ottawa next season.
Alfredsson joined the Senators’ bench last December after the club relieved D.J. Smith of his coaching duties. Jacques Martin took over as an interim head coach, with Alfredsson joining as an interim assistant coach.
Alfredsson, 51, had a Hall of Fame career as a player, spending 17 years of an 18-year career with the Senators. He holds the franchise’s all-time records in goals, assists and points, scoring 426 goals and 682 assists for 1108 points in 1178 career games with Ottawa.
He led the Senators to their only Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2007, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in five games. He reached career highs in 2005-06, scoring 43 goals and 60 assists for 103 points.
He was the first player in franchise history to have his number retired.
Alfredsson also won an Olympic gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Winter Olympic in Turin, Italy. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022
The Senators went 37-41-4 with 78 points in 2023-24, seventh in the Atlantic Division. They finished the season ranked No. 26 in the NHL standings. The team has a 6.5 percent chance of securing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft Lottery Odds, as well as a 6.7 percent No. 2 pick.
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