D.J. Smith and his coaching staff will return to the bench with the Ottawa Senators next season, according to Bruce Garrioch.
There was some uncertainty regarding his status due to the change in ownership, with Michael Andlauer winning the bid for the Senators earlier in June. However, even with the uncertainty, it still seemed likely that Smith would get a chance behind the bench under Andlauer, especially considering Andlauer’s ties to the Ontario Hockey League as the owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs while Smith served as the head coach of the Oshawa Generals from 2012 to 2015.
Smith coached the Sens to a 39-35-8 record in 2022-23, which saw them finish sixth in the Atlantic Division and fall six points short of the Florida Panthers for the final wild-card spot. It was seen as a disappointing season after all of the big moves that Sens general manager Pierre Dorion made in the 2022 offseason, which had given the team expectations of finally competing for the playoffs. That was another reason why many thought Smith’s job was in jeopardy.
This will be Smith’s fifth season at the helm of the Sens bench, hired in 2019 after four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs behind Mike Babcock. He’s coached the Sens to a 120-139-32 record, never finishing higher than sixth in the division.
Garrioch also reported that Dorion has met with Andlauer and has had multiple calls with him. While there’s no official word of his status, that at least seems to help his chances that he will stick around for now. Dorion’s position is rumored to be in more jeopardy than Smith’s, especially with rumours that Andlauer may want to bring in Edmonton Oilers assistant GM Steve Staios, who also spent seven seasons as the GM and president of Andlauer’s Bulldogs in the OHL.
While Smith may be returning, it will likely be do-or-die with him in the position, with expectations to finally turn this team into a playoff contender. The Sens haven’t made the playoffs since their Cinderella run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2017, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. Their six-season playoff drought is currently the third-longest active drought, with only the Buffalo Sabres’ 12-season drought and the Detroit Red Wings’ seven-season drought longer.
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