By: Justin Gincauskas

Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith has been fired, the team announced Monday. Jacques Martin, who recently joined Smith’s staff as a senior advisor, will step in as the interim head coach.

The Senators currently sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with 22 points. Ottawa have lost their last four games and are 3-7 in their previous 10.

Smith has coached Ottawa since the 2019-20 season. The Senators missed the playoffs all four seasons with Smith and have not finished better than sixth in their division. Smith leaves the team with a record of 131-154-32.

Martin comes in with plenty of experience. He previously coached the Senators from 1996-2004, leading them to eight straight postseason appearances. Martin won the Jack Adams Award in 1999 as the league’s coach of the year after Ottawa finished with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

In addition to coaching the Senators, Martin was a head coach for the St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers, and Montreal Canadiens. He was also an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins when the team won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. His last NHL coaching stint came during the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach for the New York Rangers.

Martin was not the only one promoted on Monday. Ottawa also announced that Hall of Famer and former Senator Daniel Alfredsson would become an assistant coach on Martin’s staff. Alfredsson played in over 1,100 games with Ottawa and is the franchise leader in points with 1,108.

D.J. Smith will now follow in the footsteps of former general manager Pierre Dorian, who left the organization at the beginning of November. Team owner Michael Andlauer is looking for a clean slate, as the team has shown no signs of improving in recent years.

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