Jack Capuano Named Ottawa Senators Associate Coach
The former Islanders coach joins D.J. Smith on the Sens’ revamped coaching staff.
D.J. Smith has made his first addition to the Sens’ revitalized bench today, bringing in Jack Capuano as the associate coach. A former head coach to the New York Islanders for seven seasons, he spent the last two seasons as an associate coach for the Florida Panthers.
News Release: Jack Capuano named Ottawa Senators associate coach: https://t.co/ZUtwJ5npLT
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) June 6, 2019
Communiqué : Jack Capuano est nommé entraîneur-associé des #Sens : https://t.co/yaoPt6knJl pic.twitter.com/W3FJ4pVDj7
The expectation for Capuano is that he’ll run the team’s defence and penalty kill, according to Smith. With the Islanders, Capuano was famed for playing his identity line, better known as “best fourth line in hockey” of Martin, Cizikas and Clutterbuck. His penalty kill over his entire tenure ran at 81%, right at the league average. The Islanders made the playoffs three times in his seven seasons there, with one second round appearance in 2016.
With Capuano added, Smith is expected to continue the hiring process this week, and hopefully have a full bench by the draft on June 21st. The only name rumoured to be in the mix so far is Chris Kelly, who joined as an assistant on Ottawa’s bench following Guy Boucher’s firing.
Capuano’s contract is three years, in line with that of Smith, expiring after the 2021-22 season.
