Senators extend Travis Green through 2030-31
TLDR: The Ottawa Senators have signed head coach Travis Green and his whole staff through the 2030-31 season, a 3-year extension that lands in a week when the blue line is falling apart and Brady Tkachuk comes back.
The news came down Monday morning, and it covered more than the head coach.
#Sens sign Travis Green and his staff through the 2030-31 campaign
Note the words 'and his staff.' Assistants Nolan Baumgartner, Ben Sexton and Mike Yeo got multi-year extensions too, and so did goaltending coach Justin Peters. Ottawa is not signing one guy here. It is locking in the whole bench and saying this is how it wants to play for the rest of the decade.
It's easy to see why. Green took the job on May 7, 2024 on a 4-year deal, inheriting a franchise that couldn't find the playoffs, and he has gotten the Senators there in each of his first 2 seasons. He already has 95 regular-season wins, which ties him for 5th among the 14 head coaches in franchise history. GM Steve Staios said that when he went looking for a coach 2 years ago, 'it was clear to me that Travis had the qualities to move our team forward.' For a Senators fan base that sat through years of rebuilding, 2 straight springs of real hockey is enough to buy a coach some trust.
Ottawa Senators commit to coach Travis Green with three-year extension Ottawa Citizen t.co/7LJGnLtJkr via @ottawacitizen
The Citizen calls it a 3-year commitment. Since it starts now, it effectively means Green had 2 years left and Ottawa didn't want him heading into this season, or any trade deadline, as a lame duck. It also tells the room the coach isn't the one going anywhere, which matters right now, because the start to this season has been rough.
Captain Thomas Chabot left Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Flyers after the 2nd period with an upper-body injury. He looked to be favouring his right wrist after a 1st-period collision with Trevor Zegras and played just 12:03 before he was done. That's a gut punch for a defence already missing Jake Sanderson, who has played 1 game this season. The good news is Sanderson is expected back soon, possibly as early as Wednesday.
Wednesday is the date to circle anyway. Florida comes to town, and that means Brady Tkachuk is back in Ottawa for the first time since forcing his way out with a trade demand and landing with the Panthers in June. The guy who wore the C here is coming back in the other team's sweater, while the guy who replaced him as captain is hurt. That's a lot for a coach to handle in the same week he got his new deal.
Staios has made his bet: Green is the guy for the post-Tkachuk Senators. Whether this team can stay in the playoff picture without Chabot, and get Sanderson back to full speed, is the first real test of whether that bet pays off. Starting Wednesday night, with Tkachuk on the other bench.