Firing head coach D.J. Smith as many Ottawa Senators fans are demanding would be a mistake – at least for now. Senators management needs to give him some more time to demonstrate that he can guide his underperforming team to success this season – and that’s an appearance in the postseason.
Related: 5 Reasons the Senators May Not Make the 2024 Playoffs
Judging by the chants of “Fire DJ” from every corner of Canadian Tire Centre (CTC) earlier this month, a visitor from Mars would have concluded that the Senators’ disappointing performance so far this season is all the fault of one man – Smith. He and he alone could make this team a winner and since he hasn’t, he has to go.
It is nothing more than fantasy to think that turning a run-of-the-mill team like the Senators into a good one is as simple as putting Smith’s head on a pike on Parliament Hill. There’s no doubt that firing the coach of a struggling team in mid-season feels good for many fans, but by itself, it generally doesn’t work. The cries of “Fire DJ” are just a knee-jerk reaction from fans demanding instant gratification and simple fixes to a complex problem.
Let’s take a look at the evidence as to how effective in-season coach firings are in the NHL.
Senators’ Limited Success With In-season Coaching Changes
Here’s a look at coaching changes the Senators have made in the salary cap era beginning in the 2005-06 season to the present (from Corey Masiak, “Does the in-season coaching change really work in the NHL”, The Athletic, 13/12/2019). The number in brackets is the points percentage (PTS%) the team registered under the coach noted, while the ranking notes their position in the conference in which the Senators were competing in the season in question before and after the coaching change.
| Date | Out | In | Before | After | Postseason |
| 2/27/08 | John Paddock | Brian Murray | 36-22-6 (.609) 3rd | 7-9-2 (.444) 7th | 1st Round |
| 2/2/09 | Craig Hartsburg | Cory Clouston | 17-24-7 (.427) 13th | 19-11-4 (.618) 19th | None |
| 12/8/14 | Paul MacLean | Dave Cameron | 11-11-5 (.500) 10th | 32-15-8 (.655) 7th | 1st Round |
| 3/1/19 | Guy Boucher | Marc Crawford | 27-37-5 (.383) 16th | 7-10-1 (.417) 16th | None |
When it comes to making in-season coaching changes, the Senators qualify as a frequent flyer. From 2005-06 up until the 2018-19 season, (the latest in which the Senators made an in-season coaching change) the team’s four changes put them among the NHL’s top six teams for…
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