OTTAWA — For the first time since 2019, the voice leading the Ottawa Senators‘ training camp is not D.J. Smith’s, who had the reputation of being a players’ coach. Instead, Travis Green comes with a different style, arriving after spending parts of five seasons as Vancouver’s head coach, and one as an associate on New Jersey’s bench, with a short stint as their interim leader.
He says there is one word to sum up his approach with this team: accountability.
“For me, the best guys play. Whoever is playing well is going to play. It’s not complicated. I’ve never seen a player get benched from playing too good,” said Green.
Under Smith, there was a lot of talk about development to allow the team’s young core to grow, to play confident and free. Forwards Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, and Josh Norris all took leaps in their personal games under Smith, as did defenceman Jake Sanderson.
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But there were no leaps for the team, which hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017 or finished better than sixth in the Atlantic Division.
New ownership and management at the top demanded a new approach on the ice.
“It’s about daily habits. It’s how you look at the game, how you show up, how you compete, how you work, and being consistent with it,” Green said. “If you look around the league, there’s not a lot of young players that just come into the league and win: that takes some time.”
When Green coached the Canucks, he had a reputation for running a tough training camp, replete with “bag skates” that left some players collapsed on the ice. Still, he never had a competitive roster in Vancouver except for 2019-20, when the team made Game 7 in the second round of the expanded playoffs.
Green’s tough coaching style began to wear thin as the Canucks missed the playoffs the two following seasons, and lost key players such as Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev and Tyler Toffoli to free agency. Nevertheless, Green believes he is a better coach now than he was in Vancouver. Call it the 10,000 hours rule.
“I think I’m just a better coach from experience,” said Green.
When Green left Vancouver, he had earned a reputation as a coach who was relentlessly on his players, which eventually led them to tune him out. But Green said he doesn’t consider himself a “tough” coach.
“No. I’m firm, fair, demanding and honest,” he said.
Green’s challenge in Ottawa will be to transition a young team with undeniable talent into one that can find consistency, win at the hardest time of the year, and get to the playoffs.
The Senators were plagued with slow starts under Smith. In contrast, Green’s Canucks tended to start the season hot. In his first two seasons the Canucks were well above .500 to begin, but then slumped to the bottom 10 in the NHL. It isn’t good enough in any division to just start strong: you have to grind through the winter months and finish the job, too. But that’s especially true in the Atlantic Division where the Senators play and all eight teams have designs on the playoffs.
As much as Green’s task will be to bring out the best in a group of young players that has struggled to succeed so far, he will also need to integrate a number of veteran additions brought in by GM Steve Staios this summer: David Perron, Michael Amadio, Nick Cousins and Nick Jensen. The common thread in these pick-ups isn’t star power as much as maturity and consistency.
In training camp beginning Thursday, expect to see the coach mix and match his lines and defence pairs often, and then evaluate his team when pre-season games begin next week.
One man who won’t be fighting for a spot is 2023 Vezina winner Linus Ullmark, obtained from the Bruins this summer. He is the biggest gift Staios delivered Green and the fanbase, as the Senators have struggled in net for years. Last season, Joonas Korpisalo failed to carry the No. 1 goalie job as expected and the Senators finished last in the league for save percentage.
Ullmark, who has never played more than 49 games in a season, should be in store for a bump in starts. How much of a bump he gets is the question.
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“We’ve got to map it out with Linus, much like other starting goalies” said Green, stopping short of promising Ullmark 50 games. “Part of it is how’s your backup playing as well. Do you have confidence putting your backup in? And I believe we’re going to have a really good tandem [with Anton Forsberg] this year.”
Whether Green ends up looking like a hero this season may well depend on how well Ullmark plays, and how well the coach manages his workload.
If Green is applying accountability to his players, Staios is applying it to Green and his coaching staff.
“Maybe the biggest [factor] is this coaching staff. I think the depth of the coaching staff, led by Travis, the detail that we’re going to, the preparation that they put in, and the detail that we’re going to play, I think it gives us that belief,” said Staios.
On Wednesday, both Green and Staios avoided making any promises about making the playoffs this season. But fan expectations are clear: the Senators have the talent, and have now added veteran leadership and changed the head coach. They expect something more now.
“We’re here to win,” said Staios. “This group in particular, at this point in time, I want to see them take that next step.”
It’s up to Travis Green to make that happen.
