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Ottawa Senators Hire Jacques Martin As Senior Advisor To Coaching Staff

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The Ottawa Senators have made a change to their coaching staff — but it’s an addition, not a subtraction. They’ve turned to a familiar face, hiring Jacques Martin as a senior advisor to their coaching staff.

This move is a highly intriguing one, on multiple levels. First and foremost, the Senators are adding an extremely experienced former head coach to their staff, someone with a reputation as a strong defensive mind.

The Senators have actually surrendered the seventh-fewest goals in the entire NHL, which does not indicate an immediate need for the club to patch up its defense. That being said, the added experience definitely can’t hurt the Senators’ coaching efforts.

Experience is something Martin most definitely has, as he won a Jack Adams award all the way back in 1998-99 and first became an NHL head coach in 1986, coaching the Doug Gilmour and Bernie Federko-led St. Louis Blues.

Martin only kept that job for two seasons but he got a second chance to become a head coach when the Senators hired him in 1995-96.

Martin stayed in Ottawa until after 2003-04, embarking on a run of success that had been wholly foreign to the relatively young expansion franchise.

He reached the postseason in just his second campaign in the Canadian capital, and then eventually made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final with star players such as Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Marian Hossa, and Zdeno Chara.

Martin would then take charge of the Florida Panthers, and while he never managed to reach the playoffs there he kept the Panthers above a .500 points percentage in each of his campaigns in Florida.

After that, he became the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. His well-drilled defensive side rode excellent goaltending from Jaroslav Halak to the Eastern Conference Final, taking out two heavyweight teams in the top-seeded Washington Capitals and defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins along the way.

That stint in Montreal was Martin’s most recent as a head coach, though he did go on to have success as an assistant coach. He worked on Mike Sullivan’s staff with the Penguins as the club won the 2016-17 Stanley Cup, and then spent one year assisting David Quinn and the New York Rangers.

Martin’s appointment in Ottawa appears to come with a decent bit of intrigue. On the face of it, the Senators are simply adding a familiar face to help out a club currently struggling to build momentum in the standings. But looking at it a little bit deeper, this Senators coaching staff is currently highly embattled with a significant portion of the fanbase appearing to prefer the head coach, D.J. Smith, be dismissed.

Senators management in Steve Staios and new owner Michael Andlauer have thus far resisted firing Smith, reportedly due to a desire to maintain as much stability in the organization as possible. But in a campaign where the Senators are under so much pressure to make the playoffs, one has to wonder if the Senators can afford to retain Smith much longer, considering he is in his fifth year as the team’s head coach and has only once delivered a points percentage above .500.

By hiring Martin, the Senators have now brought a highly experienced, highly respected former head coach into their organization, someone who could now theoretically step in and serve as an interim head coach on short notice. That’s not to say this hiring is some sort of sign that a Smith firing is anything certain, of course, as the Senators’ ownership appears to remain committed to supporting Smith and prioritizing stability.

But in the case that the Senators endure another run of bad results, the type of run that would make retaining their fifth-year coach completely impossible, they now have an in-house replacement ready to take over in Martin. He’s someone with not only extensive experience in Ottawa but also extensive experience bringing out the best of the talent on his roster.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Thomas Chabot Will Not Play Tonight, Set To Get MRI

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  • Although he had fully recovered from a hand injury and returned to action for the Ottawa Senators on December 1st, defenseman Thomas Chabot may once again miss a stretch of games for the Senators. Bruce Garrioch of TSN reports that Chabot will not play for the team tonight against the New York Rangers after experiencing some discomfort in his leg, and will have an MRI to make a more accurate diagnosis. In his return to the ice last week, Chabot averaged just over 24 minutes of ice time in two games, adding one assist on the powerplay.

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Senators Still Looking To Hire A GM

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  • It has been a little over a month since the Ottawa Senators announced they would be parting ways with then-General Manager Pierre Dorion, and have yet to replace him. Speaking about that today, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports that the Senators are still searching for a replacement, and have no timeline on the process. In the team’s preferred scenario, they would look for the position to be a part of a ’two-team operation’, meaning the next General Manager would be working closely with the President of Hockey Operations, Steve Staios.

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Snapshots: Senators Trade Rumors, Arber Xhekaj, Ridly Greig

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The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch recently shared that teams have been reaching out to the Senators to see if top forward Drake Batherson is available. However, Garrioch reports that Ottawa isn’t looking for a large-scale trade, and is instead shopping around winger Dominik Kubalik. This could be in an effort to make space for Shane Pinto, who is currently serving a 41-game suspension after violating the league’s sports wagering rules.

Kubalik is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and carries a $2MM cap hit this season. The 28-year-old has managed four goals and five points through 19 games this season, also adding six penalty minutes and a -10. Kubalik previously scored 30 goals and 46 points in the 2019-20 season, his rookie year in the NHL. His scoring took a step back following the exciting rookie year, but he managed 20 goals and 45 points in 81 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season.

And while those are certainly fine numbers for a cheap, depth forward, it’s easy to see why Batherson is the one teams are interested in. The 25-year-old winger currently has 14 points, split evenly, through 19 games this season. He’s coming off of a career-year that saw him record 22 goals and 62 points in 82 games last season. The breakout year was apart of a steady climb in scoring, with Batherson recording 34 points in 2020-21 and 44 points in only 46 games during the 2021-22 season. The young forward is also cost-controlled through 2026-27, carrying a cap hit of $4.975MM in each of the next four seasons.

Other notes from around the league:

Senators’ D.J. Smith On The Hot Seat

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The Ottawa Senators are falling flat this season, carrying a 9-10-0 record that currently has them ranked third-to-last in the NHL. They rank 28th in goals-for through the early season as well, despite having nine different skaters with 10 or more points. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch shared that, as the team continues to struggle, head coach D.J. Smith’s seat is becoming one of the hottest in Ottawa. Garrioch added that new GM Staios isn’t looking to make a change yet, but continued losses could force his hand to make a change sooner rather than later.

Smith has been with the Senators since the 2019-20 season, stepping into his first head coaching role in the NHL after four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s commanded 310 games with Ottawa, setting a losing record of 129-149-32. Ottawa has also failed to make the playoffs under his leadership, although they’ve only managed three playoff berths since 2010.

It’s been a different coaching experience for Smith, who proved highly successful in his time as the head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals from 2012 to 2015. Through his three years with the Generals, he led the team to three playoff runs, capping it off with a run to the J. Ross Robertson Cup and a Memorial Cup win. Smith’s championship-winning Generals lineup was led by Michael Dal Colle and Cole Cassels, with support from standouts like Anthony Cirelli, Michael McCarron, and Mitchell Vande Sompel.

Garrioch emphasized that Staios is hoping that Ottawa can right the ship before a coaching change is necessary. The team has played the fewest games in the league in the early season, three fewer than anyone else in the Atlantic Division, and ranks 23rd in the league in point percentage. The team could regroup as they catch up to their peers in games played. But if they can’t, changes could continue to flow in for a Senators team currently facing a new owner and general manager.

Ottawa Senators Send Matthew Highmore To AHL

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Earlier this morning, the Ottawa Senators announced they would be sending forward Matthew Highmore to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Highmore had previously been recalled twice in November, tallying one assist in six games for Ottawa.

In his first season with the Senators organization, Highmore is following up on a very productive season spent with the St.Louis Blues organization last year. Playing in only two NHL games, Highmore was extremely productive for the Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, scoring 19 goals and 42 assists in 68 games, which would be good for second on the team in total scoring.

Aside from last season in the AHL, Highmore has been a milder scorer at the professional level, and purely a depth forward at the NHL level. Back in the 2021-22 season spent with the Vancouver Canucks, Highmore scored five goals and seven assists in 46 games played, which still holds up as his best career season to date.

Nevertheless, the demotion of Highmore is likely meant to clear cap space, as Ottawa will be expecting back forward Ridly Greig as soon as next week. Greig currently sits on the Senators’ long-term injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury on November 2nd. Before the injury, Greig scored two goals and five assists in nine games, and still sits 10th on the team in scoring, despite missing a month of action.

Senators Activate Thomas Chabot

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The Senators have officially removed defenseman Thomas Chabot from long-term injured reserve, per CapFriendly. Chabot can now officially return to the lineup Friday against the Blue Jackets, where he’s expected to comprise the team’s second defense pairing alongside Artem Zub.

Tomorrow will mark Chabot’s first appearance since October 26, when he sustained a right-hand fracture in a game against the Islanders. The team immediately announced he would miss four to six weeks and placed him on LTIR, freeing up precious salary cap space for a team that had to open the season short a skater due to cap constraints. Just a few days into his projected return window, Chabot is ready to go.

His recovery has forced some cap gymnastics, as CapFriendly notes. Forwards Ridly Greig and Mark Kastelic, who have been out of the lineup since early this month, were both retroactively placed on LTIR to free up cap space. Given that LTIR requires a player to miss at least ten games and 28 days due to an injury, Greig and Kastelic will miss at least two more games with their lower-body injuries. They remain listed as week-to-week and will be eligible to return on December 5 against the Rangers.

Even under LTIR, the Senators now have only $148K in available cap space with an active roster of 21 players.

Outside of the financials, this news is quite pertinent for a Senators team looking to dig itself out of last place in the Atlantic Division and get back into the playoff conversation by New Year’s Day. Injuries have limited Chabot over the past few seasons – he’s missed roughly 25% of Ottawa’s games dating back to the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. When in the lineup, though, he remains an extremely valuable piece of the Senators’ puzzle. He routinely averages the most ice time of nearly any defender in the league, staying over the 24-minute mark for six straight seasons. He has a long history of positive relative possession numbers, too, and has produced at a 0.64 points-per-game clip since transitioning into a top-pairing role in 2018.

Before sustaining the fracture, Chabot had logged three assists and a -1 rating in seven appearances.

Thomas Chabot Set To Return On Friday

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The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch shared that star defenseman Thomas Chabot will return to the lineup in the team’s Friday matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Chabot has missed the last 10 games with a broken right hand suffered on October 26th against the New York Islanders.

Chabot has appeared in seven games this season, recording three assists, two penalty minutes, and a -1. He’s coming off a career year, scoring 41 points in 68 games last season. It was the second-most that Chabot has scored in a single season, with his career-high coming in the 2018-19 season when Chabot scored 55 points in 70 games. Chabot, 26, is in the fourth season of an eight-year contract extension signed in 2019.

Other injury notes around the league:

  • New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert shared that forward Matt Martin is close to returning to action, but that his activation from injured reserve was more precautionary than anything. Lambert said that forwards Simon Holmstrom and Cal Clutterbuck missed the team’s Monday practice with illness and were questionable for the team’s Tuesday night game against the New Jersey Devils. Both players suited up for the matchup – with Clutterbuck even scoring a goal – delaying Martin’s return.
  • New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared that there is currently no timetable for Dougie Hamilton’s return from an upper-body injury. He will remain questionable for the team’s Thursday night game in Philadelphia. Ruff also shared that center Erik Haula will be out against Philadelphia, and that Timo Meier returned to skating on his own on Wednesday.

Snapshots: Vilardi, MacEwen, Foudy, Willman

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The Winnipeg Jets have shared that Gabriel Vilardi is not yet ready to return, although he is continuing to progress in his recovery from a knee injury. The forward is expected to be a game-time decision for the Jets’ Thursday night matchup. Vilardi suffered an MCL sprain early on in the season and was expected to miss four to six weeks.

The 24-year-old Vilardi has only managed three appearances with Winnipeg this season, netting one assist and a -1. It’s his first year with the club after joining via trade in June, moving to Winnipeg alongside Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari in the deal that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings. Winnipeg tendered a qualifying offer to Vilardi and was headed towards salary arbitration, before the avoided arbitration with a two-year, $6.9MM contract.

Vilardi had the best season of his young career last year, netting 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games with the Kings. He also added four points in five playoff games. The scoring brings his career totals up to 41 goals and 79 points through 155 games, stretched across the last four seasons. Vilardi was previously drafted 11th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season. He is one of four players from the 2017 draft class’ Top 15 to not yet eclipse 200 career NHL games, alongside Cody Glass, Cal Foote, and Lias Andersson.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Ottawa Senators forward Zack MacEwen has been fined $2,018.23 – the maximum allowed under the CBA – for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty taken in Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers. MacEwen targeted Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk late in the game, receiving a five-minute match penalty for a check to the head in the game. MacEwen has appeared in six Senators games this season, scoring one assist and totaling 25 penalty minutes.
  • Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar shared that forward Jean-Luc Foudy is suffering from a lower-body injury. Bednar also shared that the team doesn’t yet know when to expect Foudy back. Foudy has yet to play this season and is currently on the team’s injured reserve. He scored 36 points in 46 AHL games last season. He was also rewarded his first nine NHL games last year, going without a point and recording a -3.
  • The New Jersey Devils have assigned forward Maxwell Willman to the Utica Comets of the AHL. Willman has appeared in four games with the Devils this season, netting one goal. He’s also appeared in seven AHL games, scoring four goals and seven points. The 28-year-old forward has totaled 54 NHL games and seven points across his career, making his debut with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2021-22 season.

Joonas Korpisalo Available To Play Monday

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  • Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo will be an option in goal against the Panthers tonight, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays. After making 37 saves on 41 shots in the Senators’ first Global Series game against the Red Wings on November 16, Korpisalo sat out the second overseas contest against the Wild as well as last Friday’s game against the Islanders with a minor undisclosed ailment which the team described as general soreness. This was an expected development after the Senators returned top goalie prospect Mads Søgaard to the minors yesterday. The 29-year-old is improving after a rocky start to his Senators career, solidifying himself as the team’s number-one option with a 5-4-0 record, .906 SV%, and 1.3 goals saved above average through ten starts.

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