Ottawa Senators head coach Guy Boucher and his entire coaching staff, including assistants Marc Crawford, Rob Cookson and Martin Raymond, will return to the team next season.
General manager Pierre Dorion broke the news to TSN 1200 Tuesday afternoon.
Boucher has been with the Senators since May 2016. He led the Sens to within one goal of an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final following a 44-28-10 campaign in his first season as bench boss. This past year was a different story completely, however, as the team finished second to last in the NHL with a 28-43-11 record.
Dorion added that Boucher will run the power play in 2018-19 — Ottawa ranked 27th with the man advantage in 2017-18 after operating at a paltry 16.6 per cent. Crawford will resume his role behind the bench with Cookson joining him, while Raymond will move from the bench to the press box to watch from above.
The Senators fell from the No. 2 spot to the No. 4 spot in the draft after getting unlucky at this past weekend’s NHL Draft Lottery. Dorion could have a busy off-season with the team needing to improve in most areas, and most importantly of all he must address Erik Karlsson’s future with the club.
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