D.J. Smith sacked by Senators; Jacques Martin named new interim coach

The Ottawa Senators have announced they have dismissed D.J. Smith as their head-coach, replacing him with Jacques Martin as interim manager.

News Release: D.J. Smith has been relieved of his head coaching duties; Jacques Martin has been named #Sens interim head coach. Daniel Alfredsson joins the team’s coaching staff as an assistant coach: https://t.co/UtadFrrkEG pic.twitter.com/LZiNGB5Mbm

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 18, 2023

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Longtime Senators captain and Hockey Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson is named an assistant coach. Assistant coach Davis Payne was also relieved of his duties.

The Senators currently sit bottom in the Eastern Conference with an unimpressive record of 11-15-0 for 22 points.

Their .423 points percentage ranks second-last in the East and fifth-last in the league.

Smith joined them in 2019-20 in order to rebuild the squad, but subpar performances have led to him being under severe pressure. Ottawa failed to reach the playoffs last season and this campaign hasn’t got any better as they have lost 4 in a row and 7 out of their last 10 games.