According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, former Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau was scheduled to arrive in Ottawa Thursday for an interview with Senators general manager Pierre Dorion about Ottawa’s vacant head coaching position on Friday.

Boudreau was relieved of his duties last Friday and is one of the most highly regarded available coaches. According to the report, Dorion has been “flying all over North America” to interview candidates.

By bringing Boudreau in to Ottawa, the Senators could be giving the 61-year-old a first-hand look at his potential work space, while keeping him from other teams that may be interested.

The Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild both have vacancies behind the bench, and Boudreau’s .659 career winning percentage and eight division titles makes him an attractive candidate.

The Flames fired Bob Hartley on Tuesday while the Wild have been playing under interim head coach John Torchetti since February and have yet to finalize the position.

Minnesota, who like the Ducks were eliminated in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, allegedly interviewed Boudreau – whose nine-year NHL coaching career also includes time with the Washington Capitals – on Tuesday. You can expect the 2008 Jack Adams Award winner to make land a job sooner rather than later.

He told Sportsnet’s Damien Cox earlier in the week that he doesn’t expect to take much time making a decision saying: “There are only 30 of these jobs. For me to be holier than thou and think I can pick and choose, well, I just hope I’m lucky enough to be offered one job.”

If Dorion likes what he sees from Boudreau on Friday, they could move quickly to the next round of interviews which would involve assistant GM Randy Lee and senior advisor Bryan Murray. According to Garrioch, the Senators have already interviewed six candidates, and are expected to narrow the field down to two by Friday.

Other names the Senators are reportedly considering are: Mike Yeo, Marc Crawford, Bob Hartley, Guy Boucher, Randy Carlyle, Kevin Dineen and Benoit Groulx.

Owner Eugene Melnyk has said he will spend whatever resources necessary to nab the best possible candidate.