When Dave Cameron was promoted to Head Coach following the firing of Paul MacLean, I was almost certain the Senators would be in the market for a Coach again this off season.
The switch to Cameron felt like a temporary fix and even though Murray was quick to point out it wasn’t an interim thing, I was almost certain there would be a new guy behind the bench to start the 2015/2016 season.
Guess that’s why I’m a blogger and Bryan Murray is an NHL General Manager.
Dave Cameron turned out to be exactly what the Senators needed. His laid back yet focused approach was a breath of fresh air for a young team that had been somewhat stifled by Paul MacLean. To this day, I get what Paul MacLean was trying to do but it just wasn’t working. The Senators needed a new voice in the locker room and it turned out that Dave Cameron was a perfect fit. Cameron trusted the team’s young core, found line combinations that clicked and for the most part, the best players played.
And that’s why instead of a Head Coach search this off season, the Senators are instead expected to sign Cameron to a contract extension. Shortly after the playoffs ended, Cameron mentioned that he already had a contract extension sitting on his kitchen table at home and Murray later echoed that fact, saying it was one of the first things Management wanted to take care of this off season.
And while it has dragged on a little longer than expected, the Ottawa Senators are expected to make that extension official in the not too distant future. Cameron has a couple years remaining on his existing contract which was signed as an Assistant Coach. Goes without saying but he should be in line for a wee bit of a raise on his new contract. And it’s well deserved, I’d say. Perhaps Cameron saw what some of the other Head Coaches were pulling in on their new contracts and decided to add a zero to his yearly salary?
There’s sort of this assumption that a contract negotiation should be pretty straight forward for a Head Coach but that isn’t always the case. While these things generally take place out of the media spotlight, there’s always a little back and forth on the numbers. I recall hearing that when Paul MacLean signed his extension the year after winning the Coach of the Year award, there’s was a pretty significant gap to be bridged between the two sides in terms of salary. And it wasn’t an easy process.
But once Cameron does finally put pen to paper on that extension, his next order of business will finding an Assistant Coach to fill out his staff. After the devastating loss of Mark Reeds late last season, the Senators have been quietly looking for another Coach to join Cameron behind the bench.
One name that has been in the rumour mill the last little while is former Colorado Avalanche Assistant Head Coach André Tourigny. He recently stepped down from his position with the Avs and as the 6th Sens pointed out awhile back, Cameron and Tourigny have worked together in the past. Could be something to keep an eye on this off season.
At the same time, Luke Richardson seemed like another possible candidate but according to Bruce Garrioch, Richardson is expected to sign an extension in Binghamton. Good news for the organization as there were legitimate concerns about losing Richardson this summer. And while it’s good to keep Richardson around for another year, the Senators know that it’s only a matter of time before Richardson lands an NHL gig.
Lots to do this off season but near the top of that list is locking up the Head Coach and filling out the rest of his staff.
