The Senators continued to shake things up on Monday, announcing that veteran AHL Binghamton bench boss Luke Richardson would be leaving the organization “to pursue a new opportunity.”
Richardson, 47, has been with Ottawa for nearly a decade. He spent the final two years (2007-09) of his playing career there, then quickly transitioned to coaching, serving as an assistant for three years, under both Cory Clouston and Paul MacLean.
In 2012, Richardson moved to AHL Binghamton, embarking on a four-year stretch in which he was widely praised for helping players transition to the big league level.
As today’s release notes, 13 players were recalled from Binghamton this season -- and, prior to that, Richardson received accolades for his work with the likes of Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
The most interesting this about today’s announcement is that Richardson won’t be in line for Ottawa’s vacant head coaching gig.
Part of that could be due to a general housecleaning, as the club has already changed GMs (from Bryan Murray to Pierre Dorion) and cleaned house behind the bench, turfing Dave Cameron, assistants Jason Smith and Andre Jourigny, and goalie coach Rick Wamsley.
But still, Richardson has been considered an NHL coach in the making. At one point, he was believed to be the frontrunner for the Buffalo job that eventually went to Dan Bylsma.
Related: Cameron on ‘hurtful’ Melnyk remarks — ‘it felt like I was fired for three weeks’
