It’s fitting that one day after Senators ownership came out and admitted that it runs its hockey operations department on a shoestring budget, arguably one of the best head coaches in hockey, Bruce Boudreau, hit the market after he was relieved of his duties by the Anaheim Ducks.
In his introductory press conference, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion stressed that ownership promised him whatever resources were necessary to go and bring in the best available person for the job.
“Mr. Melnyk has made it very clear to me that we have the resources to hire whoever the best coach is. I come a bit from a scouting background and we always say, ‘We’re going to draft the best player available.’ Well, we’re going to hire the best coach available. Experience? Ideally, someone with NHL head coaching experience would be great, but there could a candidate that’s so special out there that doesn’t have NHL head coaching experience and he might be the guy that leads us to the promise land. Then he would be the guy that we will hire.”
Eugene Melnyk would walk back his new general manager’s comments later that afternoon clarifying that it wasn’t just as simple as having the money available to sign a coach. That money would have to come from somewhere.
“Does he walk on water? I mean, $5-million… I know… look, sometimes the markets get silly. I’ve seen it in horses,I’ve seen it in hockey players and things change all of a sudden, somehow and some way. You’re only good… I know this history with these coaches and general managers and proven track records to a certain point, but take a look at who’s been winning Stanley Cups for the past 10 and 15 years. You don’t really see dynasties like you used to. You don’t see the dominance of the management over the players. Frankly, you don’t ever see really one or two maybe players dominate the team and make it all the way. It’s really a team effort and I think it’s a team effort on the coaching and the GM side and the hockey ops. To put that kind of money out for one single person, that’s tough, even from a management point of view. You wouldn’t do that with an executive, why go crazy in the business of hockey to do that? And I don’t think it can make that much of a difference. I really don’t. If I thought it did, what do you do? Do you trade out a $5-million player? You want to do that? I tell you, the $5-million player isn’t one without a good coach, I get that. But, you don’t want to go crazy either and blow your ability to spend later.”
Thanks to the coaching carousel over the past nine seasons that has included a number of rookie head coaches and guys who were out of the game for a number of years, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the organization to get this hire right.
The availability of coaches like Boudreau means that the fans will set their expectations high, but just because the Senators may elect to reallocate their resources to hire a big-name coach, doesn’t mean that the Senators can simply flick a switch, spend money and bring Boudreau into the fold.
Like any free agent, there has to be mutual interest and it’s hard to imagine Boudreau just jumping aboard without exploring the market and seeing what other kinds of opportunities may be available, but depending on who you ask, Boudreau has interest some in coming to Ottawa because he has family here.
The intriguing with Boudreau lies in his team’s regular season success. In his nine seasons as an NHL head coach, he won eight division titles, but seems to have been undone by some horrendous luck.
In his four Game 7 losses with Anaheim, Bruce Boudreau’s goalies had a combined .852 save percentage. So yeah, maybe it’s not all his fault.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) April 29, 2016
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I suppose if there’s any mild concern about Boudreau as a coach, it’s rooted in the idea that he’s always been blessed with talented rosters. Not that that’s any fault of his.
Just in case you were wondering where Boudreau comes out on the side of analytics, he’s open to them.
Boudreau dropped some Corsi stats to break down Silfverberg’s game last night. That’s one for the #fancystats crowd.
— AJ Manderichio (@AJManderichio) January 9, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsNHL head coaching experience, a track record of success, an openness to using analytical data to help form opinions and make judgment decisions and a love of ice cream and motivational speeches?
What’s not to like?
Ottawa Holds Firm, Drafts 12th Overall
The NHL held its Draft Lottery last night and despite a new lottery system that gave non-playoff teams three opportunities to move into the top three, the Toronto Maple Leafs held on and parlayed the NHL’s worst record into the first overall pick.
As disappointing as it is to see a divisional rival procure the right to draft Auston Matthews as the first overall pick, if there is a silver lining, it’s that no team behind the Senators in the standings moved into the top three and bumped Ottawa further down the pecking order. Granted, it’s a small silver lining.
The last time the Senators had the 12th overall selection, they took Marian Hossa in the 1997 NHL Draft.
Thoughts on Thoughts?
Elliotte Friedman’s latest ’30 Thoughts’ column contained a number of Senators-related nuggets of information.
Friedmand started by reflecting on the Senators’ coaching situation and addressing the question of whether or not Eugene Melnyk’s comments concerning Dave Cameron created undue damage to the reputation of the Senators and made it harder for the organization to find a replacement.
“Very few coaches are in enough demand that they can pick their spots. In Ottawa’s case, they come in with eyes open. They know Melnyk is volatile. However, Thursday’s government decision to give him the right to negotiate for a downtown arena does improve the attractiveness of the job. If Melnyk lost, God only knew how he’d handle things. He’s promised it would be a game-changer for the team and he will be expected to deliver. Prospective coaches know that.”
Friedman would go on to list off prospective names that would interest the Senators – Guy Boucher, Marc Crawford, Randy Carlyle, Kirk Muller and Adam Oates – before riddling of two individuals who should be of interest despite the fact that they don’t have head coaching experience: New Jersey assistant Geoff Ward and Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe.
According to Friedman, there was also a rumour that if Bryan Murray remained as the general manager in Ottawa, he would have wanted his brother, Terry, to get the head coaching position. Considering the speculation that Bryan Murray wanted to remain in his job for one more season, but was pushed aside for some reason, maybe this rumour (in addition to rumours that the Senators’ payroll is going to be reduced) will help fuel the speculation as to why Pierre Dorion was named as the successor.
Friedman also featured one throwaway comment from an NHL governor joking that had Ottawa lost the LeBreton preferred proposal, it was only a matter of time before Quebec City called saying, “What figure would you like on that cheque, sir?”
The final Senators note reflected upon how Clarke MacArthur’s health will have a profound effect on Ottawa’s decision-making this summer. Unfortunately the uncertainty is a consequence of a concussion injury and until MacArthur plays again and goes through the rigours of the NHL grind, it’s impossible to bank on his health moving forward.
The Senators can make a move to mitigate the risks in seeing MacArthur miss time again, but with so many limited available resources and other needs to fill, I don’t know what the Senators can do but roll the dice and hope that MacArthur stays on the ice next season.
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