Talk in league circles Saturday was that legendary NHL goaltender Patrick Roy is expected to be the final interview by Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion in a thorough search to fill the vacant post behind the bench.
It’s believed the Senators could speak to the 53-year-old Roy next week to discuss the possibility of being a full-time replacement for Guy Boucher, who was fired by the club on March 1. That would make Roy the mystery seventh candidate for the job, with six interviews already completed.
Roy also has a good relationship with Ottawa assistant GM Peter MacTavish, a former agent, who has been conducting the interviews with Dorion.
While Roy is best known for his Hall-of-Fame career with the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche, he has paid his dues as a coach and has had success. He spent three seasons with the Avs from 2014-to-2016. He finished with a 130-92-24 record with the Avs in 246 games behind the bench and had a .577 save-percentage.
Roy returned to the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts at the beginning of last season. A former owner of the club, he sold his interests to Quebecor Inc. and is in his second stint behind the Remparts bench. He finished last season with a 27-28-0 record in 68 games. The fact he has spent plenty of time with young players is the reason he’s a candidate.
When Roy resigned from the Avalanche in 2016, he was in the role of vice president of hockey operations and head coach, but wasn’t on the same page with GM Joe Sakic. During his tenure with the Avalanche, he won a division title with 112 points and was the 2013-14 winner of the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL coach-of-the-year that season.
Those close to Roy believe he’d like to return to the NHL in the right situation and initially the only pressure in Ottawa will be to develop the young players. The Senators have the potential to have 17 picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts and finding the right fit is paramount.
The Senators are heading into their second full season of this rebuild after missing the playoffs for the second straight spring. The organization wants a coach than can work with the likes of Brady Tkachuk, Colin White and Thomas Chabot along with prospects Drake Batherson, Alex Formenton and Logan Brown.
Roy is described as a good motivator who can push the right buttons with the players and he has a structured game plan.
“Patrick would love to coach in the league again,” said a league executive Saturday. “I think he’d be content to be a coach this time around.”
The Senators have already sat down with interim coach Marc Crawford, Belleville’s Troy Mann, Pittsburgh assistant Jacques Martin, Toronto assistant D.J. Smith, Dallas assistant Rick Bowness and Nate Leaman of Providence College.
Martin, 66, was the longest-serving coach in club history from 1996-to-2004 and Bowness, 64, was the club’s inaugural coach from 1992 to midway through the 1996 campaign. The Senators want someone who can help this club play better defensively and that’s going to be crucial when a decision is made.
The 58-year-old Crawford, who also played a role with the club’s minor-league operation in Belleville, remains on the radar for the post. He finished with a 7-10-1 record in the final 18 games after taking over from Boucher and is well-versed in the prospects in the organization because he’s been on staff since 2016.
Crawford was the first coach interviewed and Mann was the second because both are already in the organization. It’s believed Dorion sat down with Bowness in Dallas last Thursday and while it’s been speculated Columbus Blue Jackets assistant Brad Shaw is a candidate, he doesn’t appear to be on the radar.
Oddly enough Crawford and Roy won a Stanley Cup together in Colorado in 1996 and have a long history.
The Senators aren’t the only team looking for a head coach.
The Buffalo Sabres just completed their search for a new bench boss by hiring former Edmonton coach Ralph Krueger. The Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers are both combing through the list of potential coaching candidates, but that doesn’t mean the Senators are going to hurry this search.
Once the final interview is completed, Dorion is expected to circle back to one or two of the top two candidates for another interview before making a decision. Ideally, the Senators would like to have somebody in place by the NHL draft being held June 21-22 in Vancouver.
The fact Roy is in the mix is an indication the Senators want someone used to being around young players and that’s going to be an important element when Dorion sits down to make his decision.
Twitter: @sungarrioch
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