The hunt for Dave Cameron’s successor is on.
Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion recently met with former Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo to discuss a coaching job, Sportsnet can confirm.
Yeo is still under contract with the Wild, so Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher granted the Senators permission to speak with him.
Guy Boucher and Marc Crawford will also be granted interviews, reports Elliotte Friedman. Both left head-coaching jobs in Europe this year in hopes to restart their NHL coaching careers.
The 42-year-old Yeo went 173-132-44 with Minnesota and was the NHL’s third-youngest coach when he was fired by Fletcher on Feb. 13 after losing 13 of his last 14 games. It was his first time being fired in his career.
Days after leaving the Wild, Yeo told The Associated he wanted to right back behind the bench and believed he would have opportunities.
“I want to coach,” Yeo said. “That’s in my blood. That’s who I am, and I really believe my best days as a coach are ahead of me.”
The Wild rallied to make the playoffs after bringing in interim coach John Torchetti.
“Are there things I would do differently?” Yeo said. “Absolutely, and I’m fairly confident I will get a chance to do that.”
Ottawa fired Cameron after the Senators failed to make the post-season. Dorian noted in his press conference that the Sens gave up too many shots. Yeo installed a stingy defensive system in Minnesota.
“I know there’s a good, quality coach we can hire out there,” Dorian said last week. “By draft time would be ideal. I don’t want to put a date on it.”
