The Ottawa Senators have completed their coaching staff for the 2024-25 season, bringing experience behind the bench. Mike Yeo and Nolan Baumgartner will be assistant coaches, joining new Head Coach Travis Green as the franchise looks to get back on track.
Senators look to regroup with new staff
Head Coach Travis Green was hired on May 7, 2024, after seeing time with the Vancouver Canucks. He replaced Jacques Martin behind the Senators bench after Martin was let go after leading Ottawa to a 26-26-4 record after 56 games this season. Green brings a wealth of hockey experience to Ottawa as he played in 970 games in the NHL. Some of his stops in his playing career include the New York Islanders, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Pheonix Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. He would produce 193 goals and 262 assists for 455 points in 970 games.
Green's coaching career began in 2013 with the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. The Comets were the minor league affiliate of the Cancuks, with whom Green would be hired as head coach on April 26, 2017. He was then fired on December 5, 2021 after the team struggled and posting a record of 8-15-2. On June 22, 2021, he took the assistant coaching position with the New Jersey Devils and was named the intern head coach after Lindy Ruff was fired on March 4, 2024. His career coaching numbers are 141-159-35.
Joining him are Yeo and Baumgartner. Yeo is a former head coach with the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild. He is also a former intern head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. He has a record of 173-132-44 as a head coach. This is Yeo's second assistant coaching job as he assumed the same position in Philadelphia before he got the head coaching job.
Baumgartner comes to Ottawa after being an assistant coach with Vancouver. Selected 10th overall in the 1994 NHL Draft by the Washington Capitals, he played 143 games in the NHL totaling seven goals and 40 assists for 47 points. He played in the league for the Canuckas, Dallas Stars, Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Capitals. He had been coaching in Vancouver's system since 2012, seeing time with the Comets as an assistant coach,
The Senators are trying to turn around a franchise that has seen a lot of turmoil in recent years. With Green, Yeo, and Baumgartner, do they have the recipe for success? Will this be a failed experiment? They do bring a lot of experience, both on and off the ice to Ottawa. The Senators are hoping to surprise many teams in the upcoming season,