Senators fire head coach D.J. Smith, name Jacques Martin interim coach

Steve Staios, Ottawa Senators president of hockey operations and interim general manager, announced on Monday that the team has fired head coach D.J. Smith, according to a press release. In addition to Smith, the Senators also fired assistant coach Davis Payne.

In coordination with the firing of Smith, Jacques Martin will serve as the team’s interim head coach. Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators’ all-time points leader, will also join Martin’s coaching staff as an assistant coach on the bench.

Martin was the third head coach in franchise history and served in the position from 1996 until 2004. Martin stepped aside for the final two regular-season games of the 2001-02 season so that assistant coach Roger Neilson could coach his thousandth career game.

During that time, Martin put together a 341-255-96 during the regular season and won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top head coach during the 1998-99 campaign. Martin’s best season came in 2002-03 when he led the Senators to the Eastern Conference Final before losing to the New Jersey Devils in seven games.

Martin served as the Senators head coach until he was fired by the team following the 2003-04 season. He will become the second head coach to have a second stint as the Senators head coach along with Bryan Murray. Martin holds the franchise record for games coached (692), regular-season wins (341), playoff wins (31) and playoff games coached (69).

The Senators currently have an 11-15-0 record (22 points) and sit in last place in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa is currently on a four-game losing streak and has been outscored 19-10 over that span.