OTTAWA -- After a dismal 2017-18 campaign changes were expected on and off the ice for the Ottawa Senators. But as the calendar turns to July, and the Senators move out players – Erik Karlsson likely next – Guy Boucher and his coaching staff have all kept their jobs.

Boucher’s standing after a 30th place finish in 2017-18 that preceded a trip to the Eastern Conference finals was speculated on and, to many, very much up in the air.

Except, of course, to Boucher himself.

“When the year ended, I never saw it any other way to be honest with you,” Boucher said, speaking for the first time since the Senators breakdown day April 9 when addressing the media at Senators development camp last week. “Talks had been going on before that. We’d already talked before the year ended and tried to separate things we could control, things we couldn’t control. What we wanted to do in future. We did it as a group, with management staff. And we continue to do that.”

The changes to the Senators coaching staff will be more aesthetic than anything. At the conclusion of the regular season, general manager Pierre Dorion announced the entire group was being retained with one tweak: assistant coach Martin Raymond will become the eye-in-the-sky, swapping duties with Rob Cookson.

In that minor reshuffling, Boucher takes over sole responsibilities for the NHL’s 27th-ranked power play, leaving Marc Crawford more alone time to work with the young defense core, a group that will probably be without Karlsson.

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Should Karlsson be traded, and already without forward Mike Hoffman, moved in June, Boucher will face the difficult task of coaching up a team with coming off one of the league’s worst records with a very new and unknown roster.

“I can’t get into that. There’s all sorts of speculation,” Boucher said. “I won’t lie, some guys will be on the team, some won’t for different reasons. I have to wait and see. Pierre is working really hard to do what he has to do. After that I’ll have a better picture of what’s going on.”

The Senators coach may have been mum on updates, but said he is looking forward to the challenge in front of him.

“That’s also the exciting part for me. I’m ready for Option A, Option B, Option C. One thing for sure, we’re looking to have more pace, be a pressure-oriented team,” he said.

“But like I said, we need to have the players to be able to do that.”

Who those players come to be, Boucher said, depends on who can best do the job.

“When we look at our young guys right now, it’s clear we’re going to be pushing that pace. Maybe they’ll take some spots from guys that are on our board right now,” he said. “We’re studying the top five teams in every aspect of their game. We’re going to steal some ideas and be the biggest thieves we can.”

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With the makeup of the Senators current roster and organization, Boucher won’t have much of a choice but to ice a younger lineup. Forwards Logan Brown, Filip Chlapik, Alex Formenton, and Colin White all played games for the Senators in 2017-18. All four will have an opportunity to earn regular spots next season.

Canadian World Junior participant Drake Batherson, who tied for the tourney lead in goals (7) is also vying for a spot. Should he turn pro, and Senators first-round selection Brady Tkachuk will also be thrown into that mix. The 18-year old will likely a make his decision in the next couple of weeks to sign an entry-level deal or remain in the amateur ranks.

“We know one thing: it’s definitely wide open heading into the rookie camp, then real camp,” Boucher said. “The players are aware of that. We’re not hiding behind it. It’s out there. We want to get faster, younger. We want to get more things. To be able to do that, we want to be able to get players who can do that.”

Whichever direction the team and its roster takes, creating a continuity and calm in the locker room is something the Senators have been vocal about finding. Hoffman was traded following allegations that his fiancée, Monika Caryk, directed a series of negative social media posts at Karlsson and his wife, Melinda. When Hoffman was traded, Dorion was pretty blunt in his motivations for moving the forward.

"We had to trade Mike Hoffman," Dorion said. "Our dressing room was broken."

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Boucher said he didn’t want to focus on the past.

“There were many things we needed to address. A lot of things have been addressed and will still be addressed. But it’s all about moving forward. I’m not going backwards. So anything that’s behind, whether its players, whether it’s last year, I’m not going there. It’s all about the players on the ice now. It’s about the staff, it’s about where we are going.”