Guy Boucher Fired as Senators Head Coach; Marc Crawford Named Interim

The Ottawa Senators on Friday announced they had fired head coach Guy Boucher.

Sens general manager Pierre Dorion confirmed Marc Crawford will take over the NHL's last-place team on an interim basis, saying:

"I want to thank Guy for his three years of service. He is a good person and has been an excellent representative of the Senators. At this point, however, we need a different set of coaching and leadership skills to guide our team through this rebuild. In the interim, Marc will bring a different perspective along with a wealth of head coaching experience."

The rebuilding Senators own a 22-37-5 record through 64 games. Their 49 points are five fewer than the penultimate team (the Los Angeles Kings).

Ottawa traded superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks during the offseason as a clear pivot toward the future. It continued to sell top assets ahead of Monday's trade deadline by sending Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel to the Columbus Blue Jackets in separate deals. Mark Stone was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Sens acquired a group of young players and prospects led by Dylan DeMelo, Erik Brannstrom, Anthony Duclair, Josh Norris and Vitalii Abramov in those deals. They have also compiled a substantial haul of draft picks to utilize over the next two years.

Dorion expressed confidence about the team's long-term outlook after the deadline, telling reporters:

"What's encouraging is all of these players are going to be in the prime of their careers and we have no intentions of moving any of them. They are going to be here. I don't know what else to tell you: We have to tell our fans to be patient, but the pot of gold at the end of rainbow is pretty good and pretty big. What we've been able to do in the last 12 months, as far as our rebuild, we've acquired some quality pieces."

Boucher guided the Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final in his first year of coaching each team. He owns a lackluster 191-187-47 career coaching record, however, including a 94-108-26 mark across two-plus seasons in Ottawa.

The 47-year-old Quebec native also owns extensive experience with Team Canada's youth teams at the international level.

Crawford, 58, previously served as coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars in a 15-year NHL head coaching career. He led the Avs to a Stanley Cup championship at the end of the 1995-96 season.

He's been a Senators associate coach under Boucher since May 2016.