Now that the Senators have sold all of their key pieces at the trade deadline, they're leaning into the rebuild for next year. The Senators fired coach Guy Boucher on Friday, naming Marc Crawford as their interim head coach. Boucher went 72-71-21 in his two full seasons with the Senators, and factoring in this year his record with the Senators was 94-108-26.
News Release: Marc Crawford named interim head coach of rebuilding Ottawa Senators: https://t.co/E1T1p8oMV6
— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) March 1, 2019
The Senators hit their rebuild incredibly hard. With 49 points this year, they're last in the East, and they traded Mark Stone, Ryan Dzingel and Matt Duchene at the trade deadline. Last offseason they unloaded Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman to the Sharks before Hoffman was flipped to the Panthers.
Boucher led the Senators to the Eastern Conference finals in his first year with the team in 2016, in an absolutely miraculous run. The Senators lost to the Penguins in overtime of Game 7 in the conference finals, ending their Cinderella run. Although they more or less kept the same core heading into the 2017-18 season, things came off the rails quickly.
They finished 28-43-11, and they unloaded 2016 goal leader Kyle Turris to the Predators in a three-way deal that netted them Duchene from the Avalanche. Their struggles, however, continued.
Last offseason, Senators owner Eugene Melynyk was interviewed by Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki to talk about the imminent roster overhaul for the Senators. It was weird, bizarre and unnecessary -- anyone paying attention saw it coming -- but the existence of the interview made it clear that Boucher's days were numbered in Ottawa.
Crawford is 549-421-77 as a coach in the NHL, plus 100 ties. He has a Stanley Cup under his belt as well. He joined the team with Boucher in 2016, but the Senators may be looking for someone a bit greener.
There is good news for the Senators: They have a completely clean slate now. They now have boatload of picks for the next three seasons, including the Blue Jackets' 2019 first-rounder and their 2020 first round pick if Duchene re-signs in Columbus. There are also conditions from the Karlsson trade that could get them Sharks' picks.
While Boucher's time in Ottawa was by no means a complete failure -- there's something to be said for making the Eastern Conference Finals in your first season against all odds -- it still ended up being disappointing. They were clearly ready to go all in with the trade for Duchene, but they just weren't there yet. Now, they're starting over, and they'll hope that Crawford can nudge the ship in the right direction in Ottawa.