Travis Green was named coach of the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
The 53-year-old replaces Jacques Martin and will coach his third NHL team. He went 8-12-1 for the New Jersey Devils after taking over for Lindy Ruff, who was fired March 4.
Green was Devils associate coach at the time. He previously coached the Vancouver Canucks from 2017-21 (133-147-34) and guided them to the 2020 Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but was fired Dec. 6, 2021, after 25 games (8-15-2).
The Senators (37-41-4) were 26-26-4 under Martin after he replaced D.J. Smith on Dec. 18, 2023, and haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2017.
“After speaking to several highly qualified candidates, it became clear that Travis is the right fit to lead our group,” Ottawa general manager Steve Staios said. “As we’ve routinely stated, developing a winning culture is paramount to our aspiration of achieving sustained success. Travis has a burning desire to win, is passionate about teaching and holds his players to a very high standard. We’re excited to welcome he and his family to the Ottawa-Gatineau community.”
Staios said after the season that Martin will continue in a consultant role and credited him for helping to instill stability and confidence within the group.
“It was on the work on the backs of Jacques Martin and the coaching staff,” Staios said. “You talk about stability, but also professionalism, detail and the approach to the game. As far as looking for that stability and that next layer for us to continue to build this program on, I do feel good about that.”
Martin was hired as senior adviser to the coaching staff Dec. 6. He previously coached the Senators from 1996 to 2004, going 341-235-20 with 96 ties in those nine seasons. He is Ottawa’s leader in games coached (748), regular-season wins (367), playoff wins (31) and playoff games coached (69).
Four teams are without a coach: the Devils, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets. Jim Hiller (Los Angeles Kings) is an interim coach.
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