Judging by the ovation Daniel Alfredsson got at the Ottawa Senators’ home opener on Oct. 14, some fans could be forgiven for wondering whether he could one day be selected to replace Ottawa’s current head coach D.J. Smith when his time is up.
Some may think it fanciful to ponder Alfredsson as the Bytown bench boss. Even so, his new role with the Senators has been described by the team’s new president of hockey operations, Steve Staios, as “a bit between player development, but also coaching.”
It looks like the NHL Hall of Famer hasn’t ruled out the possibility of coaching in the league, saying of his new role, “Let’s start here. I felt this is where I can contribute and then we’ll see where that leads us. Where it takes us, who knows?”
Whether fans see Alfredsson behind the Ottawa bench one day puts the cart before the horse. The more important question is whether the former Senators captain has the ability to coach.
Ex-Players Don’t Often Make Good Coaches
Of the league’s current 32 head coaches, only 18 ever played in the NHL. Of those 18, only six played more than 1,000 games in the league and five played fewer than 100. Only Rod Brind’Amour, head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Martin St. Louis, bench boss in Montreal, could be considered NHL stars. It seems that NHL experience isn’t a strict requirement to coach in the league – if it ever was.
This becomes clearer when you realize that only six of the Stanley Cup-winning teams in the last 10 years were coached by former NHLers. The remainder were coached by men who never played a single game in the league. In fact, the back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning (2020 and 2021) were coached by Jon Cooper who was better at lacrosse than hockey and who worked his way up to the NHL as a minor league coach while practicing law.
Scotty Bowman, who coached more teams to NHL championships than any coach in history (nine), never played in the NHL. Neither did Stanley Cup-winning coaches Pat Burns, Ken Hitchcock, or John Tortorella.
NHL superstars have never seen much success in coaching. Gordie Howe never tried while Wayne Gretzky was mediocre at best. Patrick Roy won the Jack Adams as coach of the year in 2014, but achieved more as a player than a coach.
Alfredsson’s 1,246 games in the league would no doubt be a boon to a coaching career, but by itself is no guarantee of success. A head coach in the NHL must possess the proverbial “right stuff” and its ingredients go beyond simply having played in the league.
Does Alfredsson have it?
Alfredsson’s Coaching DNA
There’s no question Alfredsson has demonstrated a consistent interest in a coaching role over the years. When asked about becoming a general manager or coach in a 2015 interview, he left the door open to the possibility by just a crack saying, “Right now I would say no, for a few years. One, I’m not qualified enough and I’m not ready, either. Like I said, even if you’re a good player it doesn’t mean you’ll become a good coach or a good GM. I think there’s definitely a learning process. But it’s an intriguing part.”
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During his 14 years as Senators captain, Alfredsson was never afraid to share his opinions with head coaches. As he explains it, “I always had a very good understanding of the game tactically. I had discussions with coaches about different solutions for five-on-five, forechecks, offensive zone plays, power plays, and penalty-killing.”
It’s also clear that Alfredsson holds the room with players. Just listen to the way they talk about him. As Senators captain Brady Tkachuk explains, “I think everybody’s very fired up to have him in this new role. Of course, not just him as a player but what he’s done for the city and the community. Just all the experiences that he’s gone through, to share that with us, I think that’s going to help us get to the next level. For me individually, it can add another awesome career to my toolbox to learn from and be able to be a sponge and ask questions to him.”
Even so, there’s more to success in coaching than being liked by your players. You can’t be a good coach if you’re not willing to hold players accountable. Coaches can get away with being an authoritarian, a disciplinarian or a control freak. They can be hands-off, or a micro-manager. Each of these styles will work – for a while at least. But the absolute worst management style is to be a “player’s pal.” They never hold their players accountable. For anything.
There’s no doubt Alfredsson knows the game, but coaching isn’t simply telling players to play a certain way, or “go out and do what I tell you.” Once players make it to the NHL, it’s difficult to develop skills that they don’t already possess. Good coaches know they are wasting their time trying to make a player something they aren’t or don’t have the potential to become. Coaching in the NHL is more about taking players the way you find them and helping them apply their skills to maximum effect.
Former players already have many of the ingredients required for the secret sauce that makes a good coach. It’s why they were good hockey players. For example, Alfredsson has demonstrated that he is a student of hockey and enjoys sharing his knowledge. His capacity to motivate others is beyond question. So too is his ability to lead by example with commitment, passion and discipline. We will see, as will he, whether he has the rest of the ingredients to succeed in his new job, however ill-defined it may be right now.
Will Daniel Alfredsson Coach in the NHL?
Whether Alfie, as he is affectionately known in Ottawa, will someday coach in the NHL depends first on whether he wants to. Only he knows the answer to that question. Yet at 50 years old, he is still a relatively young man and one with an ambition to remain part of the game.
Still, I’d hate to see him become the head coach in Ottawa. What’s more, if that’s his goal I’d tell him to be careful what he wishes for. I fear that if he were to win that job he’d eventually lose it, as most coaches eventually do when their team falters. I’d hate to see Senators fans fall out of love with him.