Proposal: Fire DJ Smith

[boxbox]

Did he really put brassard over debrincat in the final minutes? If so fire him

benefits of having ties to the region... tactic often associated with the old regime; it will take a bit of time for the new regime to weed all that out

 

[boxbox]

on the subject of coaches...I would love for Bryan Murray to resurrect; best coach we had...I don't get why more GMs don't coach...like are you going to tell me the players won't keep their s**t in check when the guy who can trade you at any moment is behind the bench watching you play the whole game

 

[bashbros32]

Did you know there are only 5 NHL coaches who have held their current NHL jobs longer than DJ Smith?

Todd McLellan-Dallas Eakins-DJ Smith all started in 2019-20 season

DJ Smith 2019 - Career .445 win percentage
Rod Brind'Amour 2018 for Carolina - Career .655 win percentage
Craig Berube 2018 for St. Louis - Career .630 and 2019 STANLEY CUP
Jared Bednar 2016 for Colorado - Career .589 and 2022 STANLEY CUP
Mike Sullivan 2015 for Pittsburgh - Career .641 and 2 STANLEY CUPS
Jon Cooper 2013 for Tampa Bay - Career .590, 2 STANLEY CUPS and 4 finals appearances.

So of the 5 coaches that have held their job longer than DJ, 1 of them has not won a cup yet, but coaches a cup favourite, and the OTHER 4 HAVE ALL WON CUPS.

 

[DanyHeatley]

Greening Smith Neil is forever etched in Sens history.

i’ve just never seen a grown ass adult troll another grown ass adult… in a playoff game too. the audacity. the look on michels face was priceless

 

[Larionov]

The formal sale of the team is a short term blessing for DJ Smith. It seems highly unlikely that the current caretaker ownership would green light a coaching change while the sale is on. They'll want to leave that to a new ownership group so that they can put their own stamp on the organization. Therefore, he probably gets the full season unless things go really ugly and they simply make Capuano the interim guy.

Longer term, though, DJ is in trouble. He either makes the playoffs, or he is road kill come Spring when new ownership cleans house. Zero chance he is allowed to coach into the last year of his extension unless we are a playoff team.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

you know the Sens are back when the "FIRE ''insert unfortunate fellas name"" thread is getting top line minutes

but seriously is there a team in league which has gone through more coaches/staff changes than the Senators in the last decade or so ? I don't believe the inconsistency in games is on the coach but rather on the team leadership...I am by no means saying this team has lockeroom problems or such...there is only so much a coach can do and in the end its up to the players to execute...we have seen this team play great against quality opponents on more then one occasion so its not like they don't have " IT "...nothing against Giroux but hes not exactly someone I'd depend on to fill the "leadership" role on this team; he resume other then winning on a stacked Canada team does not scream "winner" at you, productive player YES ...not to forget our captain is a 23 year old kid who is on the right track but again no real leadership experience ...so like if the teams is down early and it seems to be somewhat often this season it most likely indicates lack of focus and execution... the coach can lay out the perfect game plan but if the players aren't up for it well then who is to blame ? I am not saying the coach cant be the problem but it seems its far too often...

DJ is running on 3+ years of bottom 10 finishes. Coaches never last that long with those results in the NHL.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

It was a rough schedule to start the year - it gets a little more palatable from here on out.

If things continue to go south from here. DJ will be fired

 

[GCK]

If DJ were to be fired you are looking at 1 of 2 options. Jack Cap or Mann. Dreams of a proven coach are off the table until new ownership is in place IMO.

 

[Tuna99]

If DJ were to be fired you are looking at 1 of 2 options. Jack Cap or Mann. Dreams of a proven coach are off the table until new ownership is in place IMO.

Would you rather they extend Debrincat or sign Barry Trotz.

I’d go with Trotz

 

[GCK]

Would you rather they extend Debrincat or sign Barry Trotz.

I’d go with Trotz

I don’t think that’s a necessary trade off so I’m not sure why you posted as an either/or.

I personally don’t want Trotz to coach this team, can’t stand his style and the roster would need an overhaul.

I’d move one of Debrincat or Batherson to solidly the RD if possible, the return would need to Dobson/Pullock level, true top 4 RD with either term or team control.

 

[Big Muddy]

Did you know there are only 5 NHL coaches who have held their current NHL jobs longer than DJ Smith?

Todd McLellan-Dallas Eakins-DJ Smith all started in 2019-20 season

DJ Smith 2019 - Career .445 win percentage
Rod Brind'Amour 2018 for Carolina - Career .655 win percentage
Craig Berube 2018 for St. Louis - Career .630 and 2019 STANLEY CUP
Jared Bednar 2016 for Colorado - Career .589 and 2022 STANLEY CUP
Mike Sullivan 2015 for Pittsburgh - Career .641 and 2 STANLEY CUPS
Jon Cooper 2013 for Tampa Bay - Career .590, 2 STANLEY CUPS and 4 finals appearances.

So of the 5 coaches that have held their job longer than DJ, 1 of them has not won a cup yet, but coaches a cup favourite, and the OTHER 4 HAVE ALL WON CUPS.

Well yes, this is to be expected. The teams you listed above (in your list) were not rebuilding whereas the Senators were rebuilding. I don't think its logical to blame the coach for a rebuild because its not part of his job description to make those decisions.

There would be other more relevant things to point out in order to make this point, but this is not one of them.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Would you rather they extend Debrincat or sign Barry Trotz.

I’d go with Trotz

Trotz and a RD over Cat imo. With all the other long term signings, Cat looks like a luxury we can't fit in if we want to be able to have a decent D core.

 

[Big Muddy]

I don't know what you'd be hoping to accomplish with a coaching change. The team is already top-10 in shot share, expected goal share, scoring chance share, and high danger chance share.

Those are interesting stats and worth considering I'd think. There seems to be a lot of turn-overs and soft plays from our better, core type players. I don't think it's a system or coach thing to instruct a player to float a soft pass up the middle of the ice while the puck is in their own zone (using this "example" to illustrate the point).

I'm not saying the coach hasn't a role in making a team successful, but I think there needs to be a deeper analysis and determination of what is going wrong than what is frequently cited here.

 

[bashbros32]

The problem with trading one of our current top six for immediate RHD help, is that we then have a hole in our top 6, if we assume that Pinto fills that hole and Norris shifts to the wing, then our depth takes a giant hit.

Also @Big Muddy my point wasnt about rebuilds, although even teams that entered their rebuild after us have changed their coaches since...

my point was the the ONLY coaches in the ENTIRE league that still have their job as long as DJ has had his, are the Carolina coach, the last 4 Stanley Cup champions, the L.A. coach (who made the playoffs last year, and has a pretty good young team) and Dallas freaking Eakins, who has a worse record than DJ...

it's unprecedented league-wide to have this little success and not see a change behind the bench.

 

[GCK]

Bednar, Sullivan, Cooper have had no or in Sullivan’s case very little NHL HC experience. No to Trotz or other dinosaurs when DJ gets replaced.

The problem with trading one of our current top six for immediate RHD help, is that we then have a hole in our top 6, if we assume that Pinto fills that hole and Norris shifts to the wing, then our depth takes a giant hit.

Also @Big Muddy my point wasnt about rebuilds, although even teams that entered their rebuild after us have changed their coaches since...

my point was the the ONLY coaches in the ENTIRE league that still have their job as long as DJ has had his, are the Carolina coach, the last 4 Stanley Cup champions, the L.A. coach (who made the playoffs last year, and has a pretty good young team) and Dallas freaking Eakins, who has a worse record than DJ...

it's unprecedented league-wide to have this little success and not see a change behind the bench.

You can win a Cup with excellent centres, a very good D and 1 or 2 top 6 wingers. We don’t need 4 top 6 level wingers

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

The problem with trading one of our current top six for immediate RHD help, is that we then have a hole in our top 6, if we assume that Pinto fills that hole and Norris shifts to the wing, then our depth takes a giant hit.

Also @Big Muddy my point wasnt about rebuilds, although even teams that entered their rebuild after us have changed their coaches since...

my point was the the ONLY coaches in the ENTIRE league that still have their job as long as DJ has had his, are the Carolina coach, the last 4 Stanley Cup champions, the L.A. coach (who made the playoffs last year, and has a pretty good young team) and Dallas freaking Eakins, who has a worse record than DJ...

it's unprecedented league-wide to have this little success and not see a change behind the bench.

There is always a hole somewhere, so we basically have to choose where. Right now, its on D.

 

[bashbros32]

Bednar, Sullivan, Cooper have had no or in Sullivan’s case very little NHL HC experience. No to Trotz or other dinosaurs when DJ gets replaced.


You can win a Cup with excellent centres, a very good D and 1 or 2 top 6 wingers. We don’t need 4 top 6 level wingers

Yes but right now we have pretty good centres, 4 top 6 wings, and a pretty terrible D. Or at least, pretty terrible d deployment, and 1 injury and everything crumbles.

 

[Big Muddy]

The problem with trading one of our current top six for immediate RHD help, is that we then have a hole in our top 6, if we assume that Pinto fills that hole and Norris shifts to the wing, then our depth takes a giant hit.

Also @Big Muddy my point wasnt about rebuilds, although even teams that entered their rebuild after us have changed their coaches since...

my point was the the ONLY coaches in the ENTIRE league that still have their job as long as DJ has had his, are the Carolina coach, the last 4 Stanley Cup champions, the L.A. coach (who made the playoffs last year, and has a pretty good young team) and Dallas freaking Eakins, who has a worse record than DJ...

it's unprecedented league-wide to have this little success and not see a change behind the bench.

Yes, I understand that coaching changes occur frequently in the NHL and in professional sports in general. I just think there is a distinction between rebuilding teams and contending teams. Cooper has been at the helm for many years in Tampa. Given their success, this doesn't seem to be very surprising imho. Brindamour is another example in Carolina and its the same scenario there (there's additional examples as well).

BTW, none of what I'm saying is tantamount to the stance that it isn't worth looking at a coaching change. All I'm saying is that you need to have better analysis and reasons for doing this.

 

[aragorn]

The last thing this team needs is more instability especially given the players like the coach. They have been in every game & it's been their better players who have given the puck away with regularity. They are not losing because Zaitsev is in the lineup or because of the coach, it's because their best players aren't scoring & some of them can't seem to mange the puck & give it away at the worse times.

 

[bicboi64]

You can win a Cup with excellent centres, a very good D and 1 or 2 top 6 wingers. We don’t need 4 top 6 level wingers

Pretty much this. I love the idea of having a winger like DeBrincat on the team, it gives us 4 bonafide top 6 wingers, but its a luxury considering our needs on D

 

[Sens Vader]

The last thing this team needs is more instability especially given the players like the coach. They have been in every game & it's been their better players who have given the puck away with regularity. They are not losing because Zaitsev is in the lineup or because of the coach, it's because their best players aren't scoring & some of them can't seem to mange the puck & give it away at the worse times.

They are losing because they can’t play defence

DJ can’t coach defence

4th year here he should definitely have heat on him imo. That’s a long time for a head coach that hasn’t done anything

 

[Speatleysson]

The last thing this team needs is more instability especially given the players like the coach. They have been in every game & it's been their better players who have given the puck away with regularity. They are not losing because Zaitsev is in the lineup or because of the coach, it's because their best players aren't scoring & some of them can't seem to mange the puck & give it away at the worse times.

1) It's nice that the players like the coach, but I think they're way too comfortable right now.

2) They have not been in every game (Minnesota, Florida and Tampa embarrassed Ottawa). The games where they did keep up, were started with terrible 1st periods where they often fell behind on the scoreboard.

3) I think they are losing because of the coach. His timeout usage is laughable, he hasn't coached proper systems and structure.. hell, this team can't even breakout of their own zone 3/4 of the time without turning the puck over. Having 3 guys play deep in the neutral zone while the defenders are being pressured coming out of their zone, having all the forwards collapse around their own net leaving the point wide open, having the team dump the puck in and not have a chaser.. those are just a couple examples of recurring problems that aren't being addressed at a coaching level.

After every game, DJ says the same damn thing... "we just didn't play our game"... ok well when are you going to start playing your game. Where is the sense of urgency with this team ffs.

 

[bicboi64]

1) It's nice that the players like the coach, but I think they're way too comfortable right now.

2) They have not been in every game (Minnesota, Florida and Tampa embarrassed Ottawa). The games where they did keep up, were started with terrible 1st periods where they often fell behind on the scoreboard.

3) I think they are losing because of the coach. His timeout usage is laughable, he hasn't coached proper systems and structure.. hell, this team can't even breakout of their own zone 3/4 of the time without turning the puck over. Having 3 guys play deep in the neutral zone while the defenders are being pressured coming out of their zone, having all the forwards collapse around their own net leaving the point wide open, having the team dump the puck in and not have a chaser.. those are just a couple examples of recurring problems that aren't being addressed at a coaching level.

After every game, DJ says the same damn thing... "we just didn't play our game"... ok well when are you going to start playing your game. Where is the sense of urgency with this team ffs.

Also no accountability for players. If our top players are sucking, I'd expect DJ to be adjusting their minutes, not as a punishment, but to give others who are earning their ice time a chance to show what they can do.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Another late period goal baby!

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

The last thing this team needs is more instability especially given the players like the coach. They have been in every game & it's been their better players who have given the puck away with regularity. They are not losing because Zaitsev is in the lineup or because of the coach, it's because their best players aren't scoring & some of them can't seem to mange the puck & give it away at the worse times.

uhhh instability is continuing to lose with no improvements year after year.