Senators shake-up sends message of urgency to team

Change is never easy, and yet the Ottawa Senators have experienced a lot of it this season.

There was more Monday, when coach D.J. Smith was fired and replaced on an interim basis by Jacques Martin. Assistant Davis Payne was also let go and replaced by Daniel Alfredsson.

That might not be the end of it either. They still don't have a full-time general manager, and it's not clear how long Martin will be behind the bench.

"There isn't a year I don't think where there is as many changes as we've had to deal with and certainly lots of adversity as well," said Steve Staios, Ottawa's president of hockey operations and interim general manager.

Regardless of all the changes, how the Senators handle themselves now will determine if they can climb out of the basement in the Eastern Conference standings and start to live up to the promise they had as a potential Stanley Cup Playoff contender heading into the season.

The Senators are 11-15-0 through 26 games. Their 22 points are the fewest in the Eastern Conference even though they have played the fewest games of any team in the NHL.

"I do have faith in this group," Staios said. "I have faith in the leadership of this group and the character of this group. I think with the right guidance and environment that they can get to that level. There's plenty of room for optimism within our group with the individuals that we have. I think it's our job now to make sure that we steady these things."

A new owner, Michael Andlauer, and Staios came aboard in September. The Senators fired general manager Pierre Dorion on Nov. 1, with Staois replacing him on an interim basis. And on Monday it was the coaching change.

Staios was not clear if the Senators will hire a new full-time general manager and full-time coach before the end of the season. He didn't rule out the possibility of it happening, though.

"But we want to look at the short-term solution to make sure we give our players the best chance to compete on a given night and also make sure we're taking a long-term look at this to make sure that we make the right decisions there," Staios said.

Staios made the change from Smith and Payne to Martin and Alfredsson because he did not like the way the Senators were trending.

They've lost four games in a row heading into their game against the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, TSN5, RDS). Ottawa won three of five after losing 5-0 to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 27.

"After the Florida game there were some changes to the game plan and some of the structure and things within our game and I was encouraged for five games," Staios said. "Even though we only won three of the five games there were certainly great signs of improvement. When I saw our game start to revert back to where it was before that's when I felt like it was time."

In Martin, the Senators know they're getting a veteran coach whose trademarks in a long career behind the bench are defense, structure and discipline.

Martin coached the Senators from 1996-2004 and is their all-time leader in games coach (692), regular season wins (341), Stanley Cup Playoff wins (31) and playoff games coached (69). He was brought back to Ottawa as a senior adviser to the coaching staff on Dec. 6.

"In theory, he's the perfect fit for everything that we had been lacking in those areas," Staios said.

In Alfredsson, who has been with the team in a player development and coaching capacity since Oct. 14, the Senators know they're getting a leader who understands offense and how to structure a quality power play.

Ottawa is 27th in the NHL on the power play since the Florida game on Nov. 27 (12.8 percent).

"We're looking forward to Daniel taking full hold of that and improving our group in that area," Staios said.

That's all well and good, but it still comes down to how the players handle yet another major change in a season that has been rife with them and could feature more down the road.

Staios is not going anywhere because he's at the top of the hockey operations food chain in Ottawa, but the plan is to hire a full-time GM at some point. Martin is not expected at this time to be the Senators full-time coach. There will be someone to fill that role. When?

"I don't want to put a timeline on it because I think these decisions are too important to make sure we're balanced and structured moving forward," Staios said.

The Senators are not balanced now. They were thrown more off kilter Monday. But that's part of it when a team doesn't live up to its expectations, and the Senators this season are not even close to doing that.

It's time they start, and that would be a welcome change.

"What I'm looking for is consistent play," Staios said. "There's been far too many times through the season that we're not quite sure what we're going to get on a night by night basis. There's a process that needs to take place with this group starting now."