For his sake and for the Senators’ sake. D.J. Smith must lose his job

Last night, you may have seen how the Senators and the Panthers shook things up. My colleague Raph Simard talked about it in his top-5 of the day.

Let’s call it a festival of punishment.

To thedelight of their families, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, not surprisingly, were at the heart of the action. The teams made mistakes on the ice. The bans were increasingly empty.

But above all, the Senators lost again. This time, it was by a score of 5-0.

The Sens are beginning to do more than just plateau in their rebuilding. The club from Canada’s capital simply can’t get out of the hole.

Okay, the Sens have a four-game lead over the Habs, but the Flanelle are still ahead of the Senators in the standings. That’s not exactly normal, let’s face it.

Every such defeat reminds us that the Sens don’t yet have the leadership to go any further. And I’m not necessarily talking about the guys on the ice.

With a new owner and a new president, the top of the pyramid has been stabilized. But we still don’t know who will be the GM for the rest of the Ottawa season. Will Steve Staios be president and GM, or will he relinquish the GM position?

And above all, there’s uncertainty about the coaching position.

Yesterday, after the team’s defeat, D.J. Smith declared that his team was not ready to face the Panthers. We all agree that it’s his job that hasn’t been done.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard bad things about Smith this season… and when I say this season, I mean over the past few seasons.

Remember the goaltending controversy earlier this season, when the starting goaltender was told on the ice (by a teammate) that he wasn’t going to play the third period.

At this point, the situation is becoming untenable not only for the coach, but also for the rest of the Ottawa Senators organization.

More and more, it feels like the end for him. And frankly, both for the club and for the man himself, who is no longer the right man for the job, it’s time to move on.

Maybe Staios and Michael Andlauer have already decided that this is the end for Smith, but signing a contract for a new coach may take a few days. Who knows?

Of course, Patrick Roy’s name will come up again. That’s to be expected.

Note that without a GM (we don’t know whether Staios will keep the job or not), hiring a coach can be complex because there’s an order to things. Could an interim coach be brought in to buy himself some time?

In any case, as long as Smith gets out (those who hired him are all gone), things will get better.

In bursts

– Really?

– Columbus is confident. The CH will have to be wary tomorrow.

– So much the better if he unlocks.

– Good news.

– Devante Smith-Pelly is no longer in game shape.