GARRIOCH: Five top coaching candidates for vacant Ottawa Senators post

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The Ottawa Senators will be patient in their approach for a new coach.

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They’ve waited this long already, why would there be any rush?

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As the Senators prepare to host the St. Louis Blues at home, the club has only 15 games remaining under interim head coach Jacques Martin and then he’ll return to a role as an adviser while helping Steve Staios in the search for a new full-time bench boss.

Speaking to TSN’s Gino Reda at the National Hockey League’s general managers meeting that wrapped up Wednesday in Palm Beach, Fla., Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and GM, indicated that the club will explore all its options before making a determination.

Staios noted he’s had discussions with owner Michael Andlauer, senior vice-president Dave Poulin, associate GM Ryan Bowness and the rest of the hockey operations staff regarding a replacement.

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“The process has started,” Staios said before returning to Ottawa. “We have a list of people. We want to be patient with our approach because things do change into the off-season.

“We want to make sure that we have all the information that’s afforded to us to make the decision on bringing in the best coach for this group at this point in time.”

When the club made the decision to install Martin for a second stint behind the bench on Dec. 18, the plan was always to have him finish the year with Hockey Hall of Fame assistant Daniel Alfredsson.

League executives told Postmedia on Wednesday they expect the list of candidates for the Senators’ job will likely include:

• John Gruden: The head coach of the Toronto Marlies, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Maple Leafs, is a familiar face to Staios. Gruden, 53, was coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs (owned by Michael Andlauer) for two seasons from 2016 to 2018 while Staios was GM. Gruden led the Bulldogs to an OHL championship before joining the New York Islanders as an assistant.
• Todd McLellan: Fired by the Los Angeles Kings with a 23-15-10 record 48 games into this season, McLellan is well respected. He has 598 wins in 1,144 games behind an NHL bench, which includes seven seasons in San Jose, three in Edmonton and nearly five years with L.A. We’re told Staios has a lot of respect for McLellan and the job he does. A red flag: His teams missed the playoffs in six of his last nine seasons.
• Dean Evason: He was let go by the Minnesota Wild only 19 games into the season, but enjoyed plenty of success in nearly five seasons with the club. The 59-year-old Evason has 147 wins in 251 NHL games. He was able to get the Wild to make a commitment at both ends of the ice and though he can be fiery behind the bench there’s nothing wrong with a coach showing some emotion. Those close to Evason say this job is of interest to him.
• Craig Berube: He led the St. Louis Blues from last place in the 2018-19 campaign to a Stanley Cup. The 58-year-old was let go by the Blues only 28 games into this season with a 13-14-1 record. Berube has close ties to Poulin, but that doesn’t make him an automatic. The reality is Berube will be able to pick and choose his next destination. There’s a lot of talk among league executives that Berube is the top candidate in Toronto if the Leafs make an early exit.
• Brad Shaw: He’s in his second season behind the bench as an associate coach with John Tortorella and the Philadelphia Flyers. If anybody asks Tortorella, he’d be the first one to tell you that Shaw, a former Senators captain, deserves another shot at being an NHL head coach. He had an 18-18-4 record as an interim coach with the Isles in 2005-08 and has gained good experience since.

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Other names will surface before the dust settles at the end of the first round of the playoffs. There have been seven head coaching changes this season and the expectation is there could be more if some teams head home earlier than expected this spring.

There has been talk the club may want to speak with Boston assistant Chris Kelly, a former Senators forward and development coach, but is he ready to make that next step and does he want to do it here?

The belief is the list of candidates will be long and extensive when the Senators do get down to business in their search. This group needs somebody who will demand a commitment at both ends of the ice.

“There’s a lot of work that’s going to go on behind behind the scenes and trying to identify exactly, not only who the head coach is but also to build out the coaching staff in the right way,” Staios told Reda.

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From now until the end of the season, Staios is hopeful the players will take the right approach under Martin, Alfredsson, associate coach Jack Capuano, assistant Ben Sexton and goalie coach Justin Peters.

“Jacques, Alfie and the rest of the group have done a good job laying the foundation for our young group moving forward,” Staios said. “You can see the details and habits are getting there. I feel confident that it’s going to pay off.”

BGarrioch@postmedia.com

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