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Leafs hiring Oshawa's D.J. Smith opens up another CHL job vacancy

Sunaya Sapurji
Oshawa Generals head coach D.J. Smith raises the Memorial Cup trophy after they won the tournament 2-1 in overtime against the Kelowna Rockets Sunday, May 31, 2015 at the Memorial Cup final in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Oshawa Generals head coach D.J. Smith raises the Memorial Cup trophy after they won the tournament 2-1 in overtime against the Kelowna Rockets Sunday, May 31, 2015 at the Memorial Cup final in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

The junior hockey job market continues to heat up as teams across the CHL fill the vacancies that opened up once the regular season ended. In the interim, many of those jobs for head coaches and general manager have been filled. However, with the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL scooping up many of the CHL's best and brightest, there are still a few openings to be filled.

The latest vacancy opened up on Tuesday afternoon when the Leafs hired Oshawa Generals head coach D.J. Smith to join Mike Babcock's coaching staff as an assistant. Smith led the Generals to a 51-11-2-4 record which culminated in an OHL title and a Memorial Cup victory last month.

“I would like to thank (owner) Rocco Tullio and the entire Oshawa Generals organization as well as our great fans for supporting myself and my family over the past three seasons,” said Smith in a press release. “I am excited to begin a new chapter with the Maple Leafs and work alongside Mike Babcock, Jim Hiller and Andrew Brewer.”

Smith, who was the OHL's coach of the year in 2013-14, is expected to focus on defence with the Maple Leafs. The Generals led the OHL for the fewest goals surrendered this season with 157 in 68 games. Even with their focus on the defensive game, the Generals were still among the league's top scorers with 292 goals. 

Both Hiller and Brewer had worked as assistants to Babcock in Detroit with the Red Wings.

Smith, who spent more than five seasons as a player in the Leafs system, had only been a head coach in the OHL for three seasons and joined Oshawa at the perfect time after spending years as an assistant in Windsor. Now, having won a a Memorial Cup, it looks like the timing is once again perfect for Smith to now leverage his success into an NHL job.

“I think there was an empty void left there when I was a player that I didn’t get to fulfill my dream of being an everyday NHLer with having my career ended early because of the concussions,” Smith told the Windsor Star's Jim Parker.

“I’ve worked hard for 12 or 13 years in this (Ontario Hockey) League to prove myself and now I have to prove myself at this (NHL) level.”

Elsewhere in the CHL, the Saginaw Spirit are looking for a new general manager to replace Jim Paliafito, who was hired by the Leafs as their new director of player evaluation. According to Yahoo sources, the Spirit are closing in on a hire and should have one shortly. Names in the mix for the job include Barrie assistant GM Dave Drinkill, London assistant GM Rob Simpson, and former Guelph Storm head coach and GM Jason Brooks.

All three are very familiar with the OHL, veteran head coach Greg Gilbert and the kind of rebuild ahead for the team in Saginaw.

Now that the Leafs have hired Smith from the Generals, the next CHL candidate to make the jump could be Brandon Wheat Kings coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon who has reportedly been the latest courted by the NHL club. If the McCrimmon hiring comes to fruition, the Wheat Kings would also have to find a replacement for the WHL veteran.

Ryan McGill
Ryan McGill

The Soo Greyhounds, who finished first in the OHL during the regular season, are also starting from scratch. They're looking to replace head coach Sheldon Keefe to left to become the coach of the Toronto Marlies - the Leafs farm club. General Manager Kyle Raftis is in his second year of a two-year contract (with an option for a third), so finding the right fit for the Hounds will be critical going forward. Associate coach Joe Cirella and Syracuse Crunch (AHL) assistant coach Trent Cull are two of the names making the rounds for that opening.

In Vancouver, the Giants are looking for their fourth head coach in three years. Reportedly former Sabres coach Ted Nolan and former Leafs assistant coach Steve Spott were the big names who interviewed for that job. Nolan is now apparently out. Spott has few potential NHL options as an assistant coach, including with the San Jose Sharks where his longtime friend and coaching mentor Peter DeBoer was recently hired as head coach. That, combined with some vacancies in the AHL, make Spott's return to junior a long shot even with the kind of funds the Giants - and majority owner Ron Toigo - have to offer. Other names for the Giants job include WHL mainstays Ryan McGill (ex-Kootenay) and Lorne Molleken (ex-Saskatoon).

In one of the few openings not NHL related, the Kitchener Rangers are apparently close to hiring associate coach Mike Van Ryn as the team's new head coach. It would be a curious hiring for the Rangers and GM Murray Hiebert. When head coach Troy Smith was let go by the team in late April, Hiebert was quoted as saying: "We felt we just needed a different voice."

How different Van Ryn's voice will be within the same organization as a head coach rather than as an associate, remains to be seen. It would also be the first head coaching job in the OHL for the former NHLer.