Jacques Martin was named senior adviser to the coaching staff by the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
The 71-year-old coached the Senators from Jan. 24, 1996 to April 22, 2004 and is the longest-tenured coach in their history. He was 341-255 with 96 ties in the regular season with Ottawa.
“We’re very pleased to welcome Jacques back to the Senators,” interim general manager Steve Staios said. “Not only will his extensive expertise provide invaluable guidance, but his strategic vision and leadership are qualities that are certain to amplify our group. Jacques’ proven track record, the foundation of which was built here in Ottawa, will be of significant benefit to D.J. and our entire coaching staff.”
The Senators (10-10-0) have won two in a row but struggled to start the season after expectations to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That has put coach D.J. Smith on the hot seat. Smith is in his fifth season as Senators coach and is 130-149-32 in 311 games, missing the playoffs his first four seasons.
"We've had some talks in the last while," Martin said. "I think I really like the direction of the ownership and Steve. I think he's a young man that is bright, understands the responsibilities of the coaching staff and has a lot of faith in his coaching staff. I just felt that with my involvement, this just brings him another resource, using my experience to try and help our team become better.
Owner Michael Andlauer told NHL.com on Monday that he wanted to avoid making hasty decisions in the wake of a disappointing start.
"It's a process," Andlauer said. "I'm the new boss. I'm looking at all our key employees and trying to understand and making sure that they have the right tools to be successful. But I can feel the fans’ angst."
Martin remains the Senators' leader in games coached (692), regular-season wins, playoff wins (31) and playoff games coached (69). He won the Jack Adams Award voted as the NHL coach of the year in 1998-99, when the Senators were 44-23-13 and won the Northeast Division for the first time in their history.
"I think the program is way ahead than when I came here [in 1996]," Martin said. "The first couple years weren't easy. I give a lot of credit to our scouting staff at that time that brought in some exceptional athletes. It's nice to see one of them back in the organization, Daniel Alfredsson. I think he'll really help this organization. But I think when I first came [here], we weren't at the level that this organization is now. I think they've been building over the last four, five years. I think they're on the cusp now of being able to take another step in the right direction and challenge for a championship."
Martin has coached 1,294 regular-season games for the Senators, St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens, 17th most in NHL history. He is 613-481-81 with 119 ties in his NHL career and 22nd on the League’s wins list.
He will be around full-time but won't be on the bench.
"He'll be the eye in the sky, he'll be around, he'll be watching video, bouncing ideas off us, we'll bounce ideas off him," Smith said. "I think that's what a senior advisor role is in all capacities. You have an opportunity to use a guy that has experience. And when you're in good times, it's easy; when you're in tough times, that's when you rely on people that have experience to help you get out of certain situations. For me, I've got two or three guys in the League that I call that have had success and have been around for a long time, and now [we have] a guy a little bit more in house."
NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report
