Ottawa Senators fire Guy Boucher, name Marc Crawford interim coach

OTTAWA, Ontario — The NHL-worst Senators fired coach Guy Boucher on Friday and named assistant Marc Crawford as the interim replacement.

“I want to thank Guy for his three years of service,” general manager Pierre Dorion said. “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.”

The 47-year-old Boucher coached the Senators to within one victory of the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 in his first season behind the bench. He previously got the Tampa Bay Lightning to within one victory of the final in 2011.

Boucher is the seventh coach to be fired this season. The Senators are 22-37-5 and in last place among the league’s 31 teams.

The 58-year-old Crawford, who coached the Colorado Avalanche to the Stanley Cup in 1996 and has been a head coach at various stops for 1,151 games, has been an associate coach on Boucher’s staff the past three seasons. He will take over as head coach starting with Saturday’s game at Tampa Bay as the Senators try to end a six-game losing streak.

Dorion said the Senators will search for a new full-time coach after the season.

“In the interim, Marc will bring a different perspective along with a wealth of head coaching experience,” said Dorion, who added that the team is looking for someone who can teach, listen and communicate to let “every team member know where they stand and what is expected.”

The move comes amid a tumultuous stretch for the Senators, who saw Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman depart long before the woes of this season set in.

The team traded its three top scorers for younger players and draft picks before Monday’s trade deadline after the Senators couldn’t come to terms with pending free agents Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel. Ottawa missed the playoffs last season after making an early trade to acquire Duchene. The Senators sent a first-round pick to the Avalanche in the deal and now that selection could be first overall this year.

Earlier this week, a plan for a new downtown arena for the Senators was killed after the National Capital Commission announced mediation had failed to resolve a dispute between team owner Eugene Melnyk and project partners.