The Senators’ season fell short of expectations. They fired their head coach, D.J. Smith, in December and temporarily replaced him with Jacques Martin. The strategy didn’t change much in Ottawa, and the team finished 26th overall in the NHL standings.
Ottawa must therefore find a new head coach this summer, and it seems that one candidate is already on the radar. Elliotte Friedman revealed on his 32 Thoughts podcast on Friday that the Senators are in discussions with Craig Berube.
Elliotte Friedman on 32TP:
“I have people telling me to watch Craig Berube there (Ottawa)”
“I’ve had a couple of teams tell me they really like Berube and they believe they’ve already interviewed him”
#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/eQZFrSwHa0
– Ryan Hyndman (@RBHyndman) April 26, 2024
According to what he reports, several sources from several different teams believe the Senators not only have interest in Berube, but have already interviewed him.
Craig Berube is one of the good coaches available on the market, and the Senators don’t have much competition if they want to hire him. The only other team currently looking for a head coach is San Jose.
The Sharks recently fired David Quinn. The other team offering competition to the Senators was the Buffalo Sabres, but they solved their problem in the last few days by hiring Lindy Ruff.
Berube was fired by the St. Louis Blues in December, in his sixth season at the helm. He led the Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019, in his first year as head coach.
He made the playoffs in his first four seasons at the Blues’ helm, before failing to qualify in his fifth campaign and being fired before completing half of his sixth season.
Aside from the St. Louis Blues, Berube was also head coach of the Flyers. He led the team for two seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
The Senators have not made the playoffs since 2017. Berube would have the task of reviving a team that seems to have some good elements in place, but can’t seem to find its rhythm.
In particular, he would have the help of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson in his race towards the playoffs.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it looks like we could very well see Craig Berube behind the Senators’ bench at the start of next season.
In Brief
– Potential targets for Kent Hughes.
Habs: will there be another Kirby Dach or Alex Newhook on the market this summer?(@KDubeJDQ, @benrioux) https://t.co/5MYBgEolfu
– Le Journal de Montréal (@JdeMontreal) April 26, 2024
– Another year of talking about Toronto’s clean sweep.
What happens if Toronto doesn’t come back in its series against Boston?
“It’s over, if you don’t make it past the first round, one of the gang is gone! Maybe Marner, Nylander, Tavares…It doesn’t work that way!” -@Lappy14
Les Amateurs de sports with @LangloisMario pic.twitter.com/vo1TvNq0pK
– 98,5 Sports (@985Sports) April 27, 2024
– Ayoye.
Capitals say Trevor van Riemsdyk will not return with an upper-body injury – already missing Nick Jensen and Rasmus Sandin https://t.co/SE1F7ol3F2
– Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 27, 2024
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