Ottawa Senators Fire Head Coach Guy Boucher

With the rebuild in full motion, the Ottawa Senators have fired their head coach. Interim head coach Marc Crawford will replace Guy Boucher.

After going into fire sale mode at the trade deadline to send away the likes of Mark Stone and Matt Duchene, the Ottawa Senators have announced they fired head coach Guy Boucher. The new bench boss for the remainder of the 2018-2019 will be assistant coach Marc Crawford.

The Senators are plotting their massive rebuild, so it’s no surprise they decided to go a different direction with their coaching. In his almost three years in Ottawa, Boucher’s crowning achievement was sending the 2016-2017 squad to the Eastern Conference Finals. Ever since then, the two seasons afterward were nosedives to the bottom of the standings.

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The timing for the move raises several eyebrows. There are only 18 games left in the regular season for Ottawa and the Senators are nowhere near the playoffs. So what’s the point in making an abrupt coaching change?

This season is at a point of no return, plus Boucher was in the final year of his three-year coaching contract signed in 2016. Why not just have Boucher finish out the season and start an intensive coaching search during the off-season? After all, Joel Quenneville is still available.

According to the Senator’s official press release, they still are looking for a new head coach, only giving Crawford the interim title, and set forth the qualifications for Boucher’s successor.

"We will be looking for a coach who excels as: A teacher who will focus on the development and growth of each player on the team;A listener who encourages feedback from players and the coaching staff;A communicator who lets every team member know where they stand and what is expected;A tactician who brings structure and game planning that will enhance our rebuild."

Best guess is that the Senators are giving Crawford a head start and allowing the rest of the year to act as an extended audition of sorts. The Senators have no incentive to lose out the rest of their games, as the Colorado Avalanche still have Ottawa’s first-round draft pick in the doomed Duchene trade.

If Crawford can get something out of this Ottawa lineup down the stretch, expect his name to be a serious contender for the permanent head coaching job.