NHL Rumors: Insider Names Frontrunner for Senators Head Coaching Post

 

The Ottawa Senators have been on the market for a new full-time head coach since... well, really, since firing DJ Smith back in mid-December and replacing him with interim man, 71-year-old Jacques Martin. 

Their search is getting laser-focused now as they get into their offseason, with three names being floated to the surface at this point. But according to insider Elliotte Friedman, one former Stanley Cup Champion coach is at the head of the list:

I have people telling me to watch Craig Bérubé there. I've had a couple of teams tell me that Ottawa really likes Bérubé and they believe that they've already interviewed him. So we'll see where that goes. 

Berube won a Cup as the bench boss of the 2019 St. Louis Blues, and was in his 6th season with the club before being relieved of his duties back in December. 

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun is reporting that he has reason to believe, from his sources, that GM Steve Staios has already potentially met face-to-face with three candidates: Berube, ex-Minnesota Wild bench boss Dean Evason and former Los Angeles Kings head coach Todd McLellan.

“We have a longer list," said Staios recently. "We’re making sure we take the appropriate amount of time to be able to look at everybody. If we feel like we have a perfect candidate, we would move on it."

Berube has important connections with a couple of important figures in Ottawa. He's close with Senators exec Dave Poulin, who was his teammate in the NHL for six seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. 

In addition, a pretty important Senators player would certainly be on board, as captain Brady Tkachuk and his physical game is undoubtedly the kind of player that Berube would love, and vice-versa. 

Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports