Senators permitted to interview Maple Leafs assistant D.J. Smith

The Hockey Night in Canada panel go over all the news and rumours around the NHL.

Back in March it was reported that Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach D.J. Smith could draw interest from NHL teams in the market for a new bench boss.

The Ottawa Senators are now confirmed to be one of those teams.

The Sens have permission to talk to Smith about their vacant coaching position, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday during the Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada.

The Senators finished the 2018-19 campaign with the worst record in the league (29-47-6) and fired head coach Guy Boucher with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

Prior to Ottawa hiring Boucher back in 2016, the club had asked the Maple Leafs for permission to speak with Smith but that request was rejected by Toronto at the time.

Smith spent three years as head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals where he won a championship in 2014-15 prior to joining the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2015-16 campaign.

Friedman added that he believes the other candidates the Senators have interviewed at this time include: current interim coach Marc Crawford, former head coach Jacques Martin and Troy Mann, the head coach of Ottawa’s AHL affiliate in Belleville.

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