Somehow it just sounds kind of odd.

"Coach Alfie."

But former Senators' captain Daniel Alfredsson, who's expected to return to the organization down the road in a role yet to be determined, told the Sun in an interview, he hasn't ruled out the possibility of playing a role on the coaching staff.

Many though still believe he'll slide into a job in the Ottawa front office as a senior VP.

Following his retirement, Alfredsson watched a few games with Senators GM Bryan Murray along with assistants Pierre Dorion and Randy Lee to see what they're looking for when they scout players and then spent time in the front office to get a first-hand look at what goes into the scouting of players on a day-to-day basis.

That's why it's a little surprising he hasn't completely ruled out maybe playing a role on the coaching staff, but after spending time with his kids it sounds like he's enjoying being an on-ice teacher and mentor.

"I don't know. When that time comes you have to have that discussion with people that have been there and see what they think and what I could contribute with in different areas," said Alfredsson, who's still a major sponsor of the annual Ringside for Youth charity event for the Boys and Girls Club which was held Thursday evening at the Shaw Centre.

"I really enjoyed coaching the boys and it was a big learning curve for me as well. You know it's easy when you see things on the ice, 'Just do this' but you have to be able to explain it to eight year-olds or 12 year-olds in a way they might understand it and I really enjoy that. It's challenging, and I'm learning a lot from it too. I think I'm helping the kids become better and thinking in a different way than maybe I have with other coaches."

After hanging up his skates following one final twirl with his former teammates on Dec. 4, 2014 at the Canadian Tire Centre, Alfredsson has made his home in the Detroit area where he's been spending most of his time with wife Bibi and the couple's four children. Next week, they'll return to Sweden for the summer to catch up with family and friends.

At this point, Alfredsson isn't sure what will come next, and he doesn't want to put a timeline on it either. Anybody expecting him to move back to the Ottawa area in August will likely be disappointed because he said the plan right now is for his kids to return to the Motor City in time to go back to school and get involved in sports in the fall.

When Alfredsson makes the decision on what's next -- and there's no timeline on it -- he wants to be ready to make the commitment because this is a guy who has never done anything halfway and wants to be all in. What will go into his decision?

"Just what I feel is right, I guess, and what do you want to do? Now when you're home and you don't have any real obligations, it's a nice feeling for awhile," he said. "But I feel I want to do something at some point. When that is? I don't know. It's going to come naturally when you feel it's the right time to do something."

Murray indicated he doesn't expect you to join the organization next year and believes you might want to take another year?

"I don't have a timetable or anything. When you know the time is right, the time is right," he added. "At the same time, when you want to do something, you want to go into it and do it right, and not just do it (because), 'I need to do something for five days a week.'

"You want to feel this is something that motivates you, that you want to do and so we'll see what happens."

Alfredsson hasn't had a chance to speak with Eugene Melnyk since he underwent a liver transplant last month but was thrilled to see the community support for the club's owner and an anonymous donor to come forward to save his life.

"Everybody was taken off guard to find out the severity of his situation," Alfredsson said. "To have the community rally and see somebody step up donate (part of their) liver is phenomenal and then other people becoming donor's after to other people is pretty amazing.

"He's done a lot for this team and this city. Hopefully, he can make a full recovery and get back to being the owner."

Next up for Alfredsson is a trip to the NHL Awards in Las Vegas next week. He'll present an award, and isn't sure which one, but noted it'd be nice if he was able to give the Calder Trophy to Senators' winger Mark Stone, who is one of three finalists.

After all, in 1996, it was a young guy named Daniel Alfredsson who took home the hardware and look at the way his career ended up.

Twitter: @sungarrioch