GARRIOCH: Travis Green emerges as top choice for next Senators coach

The expectation is Green will be introduced as the 14th bench boss in franchise history as early as Wednesday.

Published May 06, 2024 • Last updated 35 minutes ago • 4 minute read

Travis Green while head coach of the Vancouver Canucks in 2021. Photo by Darryl Dyck /THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Ottawa Senators are turning to Travis Green to try to help this club make the next step.

Second chances don’t come along often in life, but the former Vancouver Canucks head coach will get his with the Senators and it will be his task to try to get this club to playoffs for the first time in eight years.

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Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, is closing in on completion of his search for a new head coach and the expectation is Green will be introduced as the 14th bench boss in franchise history as early as Wednesday.

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The Senators reached out to the National Hockey League to check on the timing of their coaching announcement with the draft lottery set for Tuesday night.

League executives told Postmedia Monday the Senators were still trying to dot the ‘I’s’ and cross the ‘t’s’ on a contract for the 53-year-old Green, but all signs were the talks were headed in the right direction and the process that began in late-December was closing in on the finish line.

He was given the interim tag in New Jersey when general manager Tom Fitzgerald fired Lindy Ruff late in the season. The 53-year-old Green finished with an 8-12-1 record in 21 games after taking over, but the Devils knew the possibility of making the playoffs was slim when Fitzgerald made the change.

Green was still a top candidate for the Devils job but it’s clear Fitzgerald is waiting to see if something better comes along and that’s why he granted Green permission to speak with other teams.

This newspaper reported Green was a “serious” and “legitimate” candidate for the Senators, had “as good a shot as anybody”.

The belief is he met with Staios at least twice before the decision was made and also sat down with Ottawa owner Michael Andlauer.

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Green spent five years behind the Vancouver bench and struggled to have success but many believe he deserves this opportunity because the Canucks were dysfunctional and the Senators are a stable option.

Green finished with a 133-147-34 record in nearly five seasons with the Canucks. He posted a .478 winning percentage and only made the playoffs once during his stint. That was when the NHL went into a bubble to close out the COVID-19 delayed 2019-20 campaign.

The decision to go with Green isn’t going over well on social media because had only one season above. 500 with the Canucks. Fans in Ottawa wanted to see somebody with more pedigree as a replacement for D.J. Smith, who was fired in December and replaced by Jacques Martin on an interim basis.

The belief is the Senators had serious discussions with former Los Angeles Kings’ coach Todd McLellan and former Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason.

We’re told Staios may have had informal talks with former St. Louis Blues’ coach Craig Berube, but the reality is he’s waiting to see what happens with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is also a frontrunner to be the full-time replacement for Ruff in New Jersey.

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The reality is a guy like Berube, who a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, can pick and choose his destination. The word is he was “intrigued” by the Ottawa job, but not completely sold that this roster will be strong enough to push for a playoff spot next season.

Let’s face it, Staios has a lot of work to do to make sure Green has a team that can push for a playoff spot. There’s a lot of work to be done with the bottom two lines plus the defence needs a major shakeup because what the Senators have isn’t nearly good enough.

Andlauer, Staios and senior vice-president Dave Poulin feel Green is the right man for the job. They want someone who is going to push the players to be better at both ends of the ice because the Senators haven’t made the playoffs since 2017.

“A big part of my coaching is building relationships,” Green told media in New Jersey at the end of this season. “When you talk about accountability, that’s really being there for each other every day and being dependable that you’re going to do the right thing to win.

“As a coach, to have accountability in your room, I believe you have to have open dialogue, open communication, trust and build a relationship. Not only do the players then accept accountability, they want it and they understand it when players are held accountable.”

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That should be music to the ears of Ottawa fans and the reality is people can pan the choice but this isn’t a popularity contest.

While there was talk the Senators would look at John Gruden, the coach of the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies, Staios came to the realization the organization has to have somebody in place that has previous head coaching experience.

Green said he had a chance to learn from Ruff.

“Just being around Lindy made me a better coach,” Green said. “I study the game a lot, I study different systems a lot and I analyze what works for some teams and also doesn’t work for other teams. I have changed some of my ideas and that’s just evolving as a coach.

“The game evolves and coaches have to evolve as well.”

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