Coaching Staff
D.J. Smith
Head Coach
Born May 13, 1977 (Windsor, Ont.)
D. J. Smith was hired as the 14th head coach in Senators franchise history on May 23, 2019.
Prior to his arrival in Ottawa, Smith spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach on Mike Babcock's staff with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was named an assistant coach in Toronto ahead of the 2015-16 campaign after leading the Ontario Hockey League's Oshawa Generals to the 2015 Memorial Cup title.
In three seasons as Generals' head coach, Smith compiled a record of 135-53-3-13 and was recognized as the OHL's Coach of the Year after guiding the Generals to a 42-20-0-6 record in 2013-14. The following season, Oshawa concluded the year with a record of 51-11-2-4 before winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup by way of defeating Erie in five games in the league's Championship series. Oshawa later captured the 2015 Mastercard Memorial Cup via a 2-1 overtime win over the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets in the tournament finale in Quebec City.
Prior to being hired in Oshawa, Smith spent six seasons as an assistant coach with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires. During his tenure in Windsor, the Spitfires captured back-to-back Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010.
As a player, Smith was drafted in the second round (41st overall) by the New York Islanders in the 1995 NHL Draft. A defenceman, he appeared in 45 career NHL games with both the Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche registering two points (one goal, one assist) and 67 penalty minutes.
Smith also spent parts of nine seasons in the American Hockey League with the St. John's Maple Leafs and the Hershey Bears. A native of Windsor, Ont., Smith played his junior hockey with his hometown Spitfires from 1994-97.
An off-season resident of Tecumseh, Ont., Smith is married to wife, Christie, and has two sons, Colton and Brock.
Jack Capuano
Associate Coach
Born July 7, 1966 (Cranston, R.I.)
Jack Capuano enters his first season as a member of the Senators coaching staff in 2019-20 after being named the team's associate coach on June 6, 2019. In conjunction with assistant coach Davis Payne, the pair bring greater than 600 games of NHL head coaching experience to Senators head coach D.J. Smith's staff.
Most recently, Capuano spent the last two seasons as associate coach with the Florida Panthers. Prior to his arrival in South Florida, Capuano spent more than 10 seasons coaching in the New York Islanders organization, serving as head coach of the Islanders for parts of seven seasons from 2010 to 2017 and head coach of the team's primary affiliate, the American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, for three-plus seasons from 2007 to 2010. He also spent one season (2005-06) as an assistant coach with the Islanders and one season (2006-07) as an assistant coach with the Sound Tigers. He compiled a record of 227-192-64 over 483 games as the Islanders' bench boss which sees him rank second to only Al Arbour among all-time Islanders' head coaches (and 68th among all-time NHL head coaches) in victories ahead of the 2019-20 campaign. Capuano also helped guide New York to three NHL post-season appearances, including a berth in 2013 which was the team's first since 2007.
Capuano began his coaching career in 1996-97 as an assistant coach with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks (ECHL), before being named head coach and general manager of the Pee Dee Pride/Knoxville Cherokees (ECHL), a position he held until the 2005-06 season when he arrived in New York. A native of Cranston, R.I., he was inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame on Sept. 6, 2019.
Internationally, Capuano served as an assistant coach with Team U.S.A. at both the 2016 World Cup and the 2017 IIHF World Championship where he helped the United States earn a record of 6-1-0 in the preliminary round before it was ousted by Finland in the tournament quarterfinals, in Cologne, Germany.
As a player, Capuano was selected in the fifth round (88th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1984 NHL Draft. An All-American defenceman at the University of Maine, he later appeared in six NHL games for Toronto, the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins over parts of three seasons from 1989 to 1992. He also played professionally with the AHL's Newmarket Saints, the Springfield Indians and the Maine Mariners in addition to the IHL's Milwaukee Admirals, where he was a league all-star, over a total of four seasons.
An off-season resident of Bangor, Me., Capuano is married to wife, Donna, and has a daughter, Adriana and a son, Anthony.
Shean Donovan
Player Development Coach
Born Jan. 22, 1975 (Timmins, Ont.)
Shean Donovan enters his sixth season as a member of the Senators hockey management staff in 2019-20 after originally being hired by the club on Sept. 11, 2014. Donovan, who retired as a player following his third season with the Senators in 2009-10, works primarily alongside members of the team's management group in overseeing the progress of prospects throughout the Senators organizational system. He also serves in an advisory role to members of the Ottawa and Belleville Senators' coaching staffs in addition to the staff of the club's ECHL affiliate in Brampton, Ont.
A veteran of 15 NHL seasons, Donovan played in 951 career regular-season games with the San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins and the Senators, recording 241 points (112 goals, 129 assists) and 705 penalty minutes. He also registered 12 points (six goals, six assists) and 39 penalty minutes over the span of 49 career NHL playoff games, giving him an exact total of 1,000 NHL appearances for his career. Of Donovan's 12 post-season points, 10 (five goals, five assists) were earned while helping the Flames reach the seventh game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, where the club was ultimately defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played in each of Calgary's 24 playoff games that spring.
San Jose's second pick (28th overall) in the 1993 NHL Draft, Donovan spent his entire major junior career with the Ottawa 67's. He earned a gold medal while representing Canada at the 1995 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Red Deer, Alta., before later winning a gold medal at the 1997 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Finland.
Shean and his wife, Trie, live in Kanata with their three children, Jorian, Rylan and Trinity.
Jesse Winchester
Player Development Coach
Born Oct. 4, 1983 (Long Sault, Ont.)
Jesse Winchester begins his first season as a member of the Senators hockey management staff in 2019-20 after being hired by the team on July 1, 2019. Winchester, who retired as a player after missing the entire 2014-15 season due to injury while a member of the Colorado Avalanche, will work alongside members of the team's management group in overseeing the progress of prospects throughout the Senators organizational system. He will also serve in an advisory role to members of the Ottawa and Belleville coaching staffs in addition to the staff of the club's ECHL affiliate in Brampton, Ont.
Most recently, Winchester was the head coach of the CCHL's Brockville Braves. In two seasons as head coach in Brockville, he helped the Braves earn a record of 79-36-5-4.
A veteran of 285 NHL games with the Senators and Florida Panthers over which he recorded 70 points (20 goals, 50 assists) and 159 penalty minutes, Winchester joins Shean Donovan in support of the development and growth of prospects throughout the Senators system. In doing so, he returns to the team with which he signed as a collegiate free agent and where he began his National Hockey League career. In addition to his regular-season playing experience, he also skated in 10 NHL post-season games with Ottawa.
Winchester was recognized as the CCHL Coach of the Year following both of his two seasons in Brockville and compiled a record of 11-9 over 20 CCHL post-season contests while helping the Braves reach the second round of the playoffs in each of his two seasons with the team.
Winchester, who resides in Kanata, Ont., is married to wife, Alana, and has two daughters, Taryn and Isla.