Ottawa Senators

The team entered the 1992 expansion draft with their expansion cousins Tampa Bay Lightning. The rules for the expansion draft were not kind to the new franchises, allowing existing teams to protect 14 skaters and two goalies. And, what was worse, teams which had a defenseman or goaltender selected the year prior by expansion San Jose Sharks could not have a player from those positions selected by Ottawa.

The rules were difficult, but Ottawa made their situation worse. The team had their research and relevant information for the Expansion draft on a single laptop. When the organization got to the Expansion Draft table, the laptop's batteries were dead. What was worse, the team had failed to bring a backup battery. This was found out when Ottawa began selecting players who were, by the expansion rules, ineligible for selection. The team had lost their list of players and a portion of their credibility around the league. The players they did eventually select would lend themselves to their inaugural seasons woes.

On March 28, 2022, it was announced that Melnyk died at the age of sixty-two due to an undisclosed illness. Ownership of the team was passed on to his two daughters, Anna and Olivia Melnyk, and there were questions about whether the team would be put up for sale again. In June 2022, the National Capital Commission made a deal with the Ottawa Senators to develop an arena at the LeBreton Flats. In November of the same year, the team was officially put up for sale, hiring Galatioto Sports Partners to assist in the sale of the franchise.

In the 1996-1997 season, the young franchise made a change behind the bench, hiring defensive-minded coach Jacques Martin, who helped the Senators climb to respectability. In that season, they made the playoffs for the first time. In the 1997-981997-1998 season, Ottawa posted a winning season for the first time in franchise history. And in 1998-991998-1999, Ottawa finished first in the Northeast Division (as it was known then) with forty-four wins. The team continued to show promise, led by rising stars Daniel Alfredsson, Alexei Yashin, and Wade Redden, and the improved play earned Jacques Martin the Jack Adams Award.

During this period, the Ottawa Senators became one of the top clubs in the NHL. This saw them set franchise records for wins (52) and regular season points (113) in the 2002-032002-2003 season, and they won the Presidents' Trophy—awarded to the team with the most regular-season points. It was the first time a Canadian NHL team won the trophy since 1989, when the Calgary Flames won it. It was also Ottawa's second division title in three seasons. However, during this time, Ottawa struggled in the playoffs, often coming short in series against their inter-provincial rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who defeated them in four postseason series between 2000 and 2004. This led to the development of a rivalry between the two clubs, which came to be known as the "Battle of Ontario."

After the 2004-052004-2005 season was canceled due to a player lockout, the Senators made waves by announcing a blockbuster trade for highly touted sniper Dany Heatley. In his first season, Heatley went on to score 50 goals and more than 100 points, becoming the first Ottawa Senators player to reach both benchmarks. This led to the creation of a powerful top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza. The line powered the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007. But there, the team came up short, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.

This came after the disappointing 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, in which the young team could be seen to be taking strides on the ice, but the players surrounding those young, rising stars failed to meet expectations. In 2021, the Senators named Brady Tkachuk the tenth captain in team history. The 2022-232022-2023 season saw the team take significant on-ice strides, with good underlying numbers (such as a third-place powerplay at 28.1 percent and a sixth-place penalty kill at 82.2 percent) as the club pushed for playoffs. They would eventually fall short, at six points out from a playoff berth.

The Ottawa Senators, officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, areis a professional hockey team playing in the NHL and competing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, the Senators play at aan 18,500-seat arena first opened in 1996 and located in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa. Ottawa was awarded an expansion franchise in the NHL in 1990, and wouldthe playteam theirplayed its debut season in 1992. They got theirThe team name comes from the historical team of the city, which had been a part of the formation of the NHL in the 1920s, and had, in turn, taken theirits nickname from Ottawa's status as the seat of the Canadian national government.

The Ottawa Senators areis one of two officially bilingual franchises in the NHL. Along with the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators provideprovides theirits in-game programs and team-sponsored content in both English and French. In French, the team is officially the Sénateurs d'Ottawa. The Senatorsteam havehas made theirits bilingual status of greater importance since 2016, to better reflect the bilingual status of the Ottawa region.

Beginning in 1883, there was a team in Ottawa, known officially as the Ottawa Hockey Club, that was a professional hockey club that played in tournaments for the Stanley Cup as the Ottawa Silver Seven and won the tournament in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906. The team was renamed itself the Ottawa Senators later and would winwon the Stanley Cup again in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1923, and 1927. The SenatorsIt werewas a member of the National Hockey AssocationAssociation before it became a charter member of the National Hockey League, founded in 1917.

The original Ottawa Senators werewas one of the first teams to suffer from what is now known as the "small-market" malaise that affects professional sports teams. The club experienced financial difficulties in the late 1920s as the NHL expanded into American cities. One attempt to recover financially involved the sale of Frank "King" Clancy, who at the time was Ottawa's most popular player, to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1930 for two players and $35,000. In the spring of 1931, the team suspended operations, and its players were leased to the rest of the league. The Senators returned after a year of inactivity, but the team would eventually be sold to St. Louis, where it was renamed the Eagles. That iteration of the club would be folded due to ongoing financial difficulties at the end of the 1934–1935 season.

Beginning in 1989, Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone headed the Terrace Investments group, which included Cyril Leeder and Randy Sexton, in a bid to win an expansion team in the NHL for Ottawa. On December 6, 1990, Ottawa would bewas awarded the franchise for the Senators, with the club officially hitting the ice in the 1992-1993 season. The expansion fee for the franchise was $50 million dollars, and the group struggled to secure that amount. Financial and ownership difficulties would be a story of the young NHL franchise.

The financial troubles of the Ottawa Senators continued, with Bryden making pleas to the Canadian government for financial help, which included a demand of an annual tax break of between $10 to $12 million. By the end of 1999, Bryden put the team up for sale, which he would rescind in a few months. By 2002, Bryden came up with a new plan to refinance the hockey team. This would bewas his second attempt to refinance the team, with the debt for the team and the Palladium, now called the Corel Centre, being around $375 million.

It would be revealed in later 2002 that the Senators borrowed $14 million from the NHL to pay bills, and by the end of 2002, the Ottawa Senators received bankruptcy protection, which included a process to sell the team. Rod Bryden would make another attempt to re-purchase the Corel Centre and the team (with the assets being considered separate). The deal was conditionally accepted, with the condition being the approval of the purchase of the Corel Centre and the blessing of the bankruptcy court. This deal fell apart after Bryden's US partners backed out.

In 2015, Eugene Melnyk made a public plea for a live liver donor, for an undisclosed health condition he stated would become "life threateninglife-threatening." A donor stepped forward and noted that their hope was Melnyk would be able to bring the Stanley Cup back to Ottawa. At the same time, the location of the aging arena was brought into question. Even as the area around the Canadian Tire Centre had been built up, people pushed for a new arena to be built in downtown Ottawa, especially in light of struggling attendance figures. This led Melnyk to consider a relocation to an area in Ottawa known as the LeBreton Flats, which was being explored for redevelopment. The expanse had been left largely empty for decades, after a large fire had burned down derelict buildings that were previously located on the spot.

The National Capital Commission, the organizing body in charge of redeveloping the LeBreton Flats, revealed in 2016 that the RendezVous Group, which included Eugene Melnyk and the Ottawa Senators, had been named the preferred bidder to redevelop the LeBreton Flats. This was a slow process, and fans grew upset with the owner over what the fanbase felt were penny-pinching roster moves, which saw the Senators frequently rank toward the bottom of the league in salary spent on players. This led to a 2018 campaign from the fans, dubbed #MelnykOut, which began on social media and extended to billboards that went up around the city of Ottawa. Fans wanted the owner to relinquish control of the team. Melnyk responded to this campaign with threats to move the team out of Ottawa.

Andlauer's group included multiple local Ottawa business people and builders, such as Farm Boy co-CEO Jeff York and the Malhotra family and their Claridge Homes real estate company. Upon the announcement of the purchase, Andlauer released athe following statement, which said:

The first season of the new Ottawa Senators, the 1992-931992-1993 season, saw them enter the league alongside their expansion sibling Tampa Bay Lightning. The first few seasons were forgettable, with the first season seeing the Senators win a total of ten games of the then eighty-four gameeighty-four-game season. The Senators would useused their first overall draft pick in the NHL entry draft to select highly touted junior hockey star Alexandre Daigle. The pick, a record-setting scorer in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, turned out to be one of the biggest draft busts in NHL history and never lived up to expectations, never scoring more than 51 points for the Senators. He would later be traded in 1998 to the Philadelphia Flyers.

In the 1996-971996-1997 season, the young franchise would makemade a change behind the bench, hiring defensive-minded coach Jacques Martin, who would helphelped the Senators climb to respectability. In that season, they would makemade the playoffs for the first time. In the 1997-98 season, Ottawa posted a winning season for the first time in franchise history. And in 1998-99, Ottawa would finishfinished first in the Northeast Division (as it was known then) with 44forty-four wins. The team continued to show promise, led by rising stars in Daniel Alfredsson, Alexei Yashin, and Wade Redden, and the improved play would earnearned Jacques Martin the Jack Adams Award.

In 1998, star forward Alexei Yashin was named captain of the team. But the player demanded to renegotiate his contract soon after, and during this dispute, wouldhe sitsat out the entire 1999-2000 season. Yashin was stripped of his captaincy, which was given to Alfredsson, and in 2001, Yashin was traded to the New York Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt, and a draft pick that was used to draft future franchise player Jason Spezza.

Ottawa and Toronto forwards scrap during a game.

During this period, the Ottawa Senators became one of the top clubs in the NHL. This saw them set franchise records for wins (52) and regular season points (113) in the 2002-03 season, and they won the Presidents' Trophy, awardedTrophy—awarded to the team with the most regular seasonregular-season points,. andIt was the first time a Canadian NHL team had won the trophy since 1989, when the Calgary Flames won it. It was also Ottawa's second division title in three seasons. However, during this time, Ottawa struggled in the playoffs, often coming short in series against their inter-provincial rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who would defeatdefeated them in four postseason series between 2000 and 2004. This led to the development of a rivalry between the two clubs, which came to be known as the "Battle of Ontario."

After the 2004-05 season was cancelledcanceled due to a player lockout, the Senators made waves by announcing a blockbuster trade for highly touted sniper Dany Heatley. In his first season, Heatley would gowent on to score 50 goals and more than 100 points, becoming the first Ottawa Senators player to reach both benchmarks. This led to the creation of a powerful top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza. The line powered the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007. But there, the team came up short, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.

The off-ice instability the Senators franchise had been going through would lead to on-ice instability, with the club losing star players, and the talent on the roster being diminished. After the loss in the Stanley Cup Finals, the club fired general manager John Muckler and replaced him with Bryan Murray, who had been the architect of the Anaheim Ducks team they had lost to. The following season would seesaw the club reach the playoffs again, but they failed to replicate their playoff success. Coach Craig Hartsburg would replacereplaced previous coach John Paddock. And a year later, Hartsburg would bewas replaced by Cory Clouston. During the season, the team struggled and failed to make the playoffs, ending an 11 yeareleven-year consecutive run of seasons reaching the post-season.

The instability continued, as star forward Dany Heatley would requestrequested a trade before the 2009-102009-2010 season, reportedly upset with his role on the team. Trouble continued the next season, as the team posted a losing record by the end of December 2010, and management began to trade away veteran players, including fan favorites Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly. At the end foof the 2010-112010-2011 season, Bryan Murray fired the entire coaching staff, and hired Paul MacLean as the new head coach.

During the 2011-122011-2012 season, Ottawa celebrated the club's 20thtwentieth anniversary of its return to the league. To help with the celebration, Ottawa hosted the 2012 All-Star Game. MacLean would helphelped the team return to the playoffs that season, and for his efforts, MacLean would winwon the Jack Adams Award in 2013. However, the 2013 off-season would provideprovided more disappointment for fans, as long-time captain and fan favorite Daniel Alfredsson left in free agency after failing to find an agreement with management. Alfredsson played the next season with the Detroit Red Wings before retiring.

Thus began the next era of the Ottawa Senators. In 2013, Jason Spezza would bewas named captain of the franchise, but at the end of an unsuccessful season, the star forward would requestrequested a trade, in which he was moved to the Dallas Stars. In 2014, the young phenom defenseman Erik Karlsson was named the ninth captain in Ottawa Senators franchise history. Ottawa faltered to begin the season, and Paul MacLean was dismissed in December, with assistant coach Dave Cameron would taketaking over coaching duties. The team would gowent on a miraculous run in the last half of the season, led by performances from replacement goaltender Andrew "the Hamburglar" Hammond and rookie Mark Stone, and finished the season with a remarkable 20-1-2 record. However, the team came up short in the playoffs, and were eliminated at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens.

The magic of the previous season did not continue. The Senators finished the 2015-162015-2016 season with 38 wins and the third most goals-against in the league. Head coach Dave Cameron was fired once the season ended. Bryan Murray, general manager since 2007, stepped down from his position, and assistant general manager Pierre Dorion was promoted. A new head coach was brought in: Guy Boucher. With the new coaches' defensive and counter-strike system basedsystem-based play, the Senators finished the season with 44 wins and finished second in the Atlantic Division. In the post-season, the Senators went on a run, facing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals, but would loselost in double overtime of game seven.

Despite the previous season and the narrow miss of the Stanley Cup Finals, the club struggled out of the gate. Early in the season, general manager Pierre Dorion sought to address the needs of the club and acquired center Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche to bolster their offense and improve their chances at a championship. However, Duchene did not deliver the offensive advantage expected of him, and inconsistent goaltending led to struggles. This began a toxic relationship with the fanbase and the organization, including the above mentionedabove-mentioned #MelnykOut campaign, threats from owner Eugene Melnyk to move the club, and videos of the players bad-mouthing the team. Attendance dwindled, and many of the clubsclub's stars were rumored to be on the move.

September 2018 signalledsignaled the beginning of a rebuildrebuilding period for the team. While the departure of Alfredsson signaled a rebuild, the team never performed poorly enough on the ice to garner top endtop-end draft picks. This would be different, as the Senators would trade captain Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks in 2018 in a multi-player and draft pickdraft-pick deal. Following that, top players, including Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, were traded for young prospects or picks at the NHL draft. Meanwhile, other veteran players were allowed to enter free agency.

Guy Boucher was fired towardstoward the end of the 2018 season, and first-time NHL head coach D.J. Smith would bewas hired. Known as a strong communicator and players coach, he was known to have a strong record working with young players and developing those players. This would be important, as the roster spots taken by veterans would be replaced by young players such as Brady Tkachuck, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, and Tim Stützle. Trades for established players, including Alex DeBrincat, Cam Talbot, and Jakob Chychrun and free-agency acquisition Claude Giroux increased hope for the 2022-232022-2023 season.

This came after the disappointing 2020-212020-2021 and 2021-222021-2022 seasons, in which the young team could be seen to be taking strides on the ice, but the players surrounding those young, rising stars failed to meet expectations. In 2021, the Senators named Brady Tkachuk the 10thtenth captain in team history. The 2022-23 season saw the team take significant on-ice strides, with good underlying numbers (such as a third-place powerplay at 28.1 percent and a sixth-place penalty kill at 82.2 percent) as the club pushed for playoffs. They would eventually fall short, at six points out from a playoff berth.

Beginning in 1883, there was a team in Ottawa, known officially as the Ottawa Hockey Club, that was a professional hockey club that played in tournaments for the Stanley Cup as the Ottawa Silver Seven and won the tournament in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906. The team renamed itself the Ottawa Senators later, and would win the Stanley Cup again in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1923, and 1927. The Senators were a member of the National Hockey Assocation before theyit became a charter member of the National Hockey League, founded in 1917.

The original Ottawa Senators were one of the first teams to suffer from what is now known as the "small-market" malaise that affects professional sports teams. The club experienced financial difficulties in the late 1920s as the NHL expanded into American cities. One attempt to recover financially involved the sale of Frank "King" Clancy, who at the time was Ottawa's most popular player, to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1930 for two players and $35,000. In spring of 1931, the team suspended operations, and its players were leased to the rest of the league. The Senators returned after thea year of inactivity, but the team would eventually be sold to St. Louis, where it was renamed the Eagles. That iteration of the club would be folded due to ongoing financial difficulties at the end of the 1943-351934–1935 season.

BeginnningBeginning in 1989, Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone headed the Terrace Investments group, which included Cyril Leeder and Randy Sexton, in a bid to win an expansion team in the NHL for Ottawa. On December 6, 1990, Ottawa would be awarded the franchise tofor the Senators, with the club officially hitting the ice in the 1992-931992-1993 season. The expansion fee for ththe efranchisefranchise was $50 million dollars, whichand the group struggled to secure the finding to cover thethat fee foramount. The struggle for finances,Financial and ownership difficulties, would be a story of the young NHL franchise.

By 1992, Firestone and his company began to break ground on a new arena, but failed to secure the financing for the building and had few lenders whichwho seemed interested in the project. By 1993, Firestone and Terrace Investments sold the Ottawa Senators to technology executive and entrepreneur Rod Bryden. Bryden, in turn, struggled to find lenders to help build the arena. Construction for the arena finally began in 1994, with a $188 million price tag. The arena iswas known at the time as the Palladium and iswas built entirely with borrowed money.

Ottawa introduceintroduced changes to the logo in 1997.

The financial troubles of the Ottawa Senators continued, with Bryden making pleasepleas to the Canadian government for financial help, which included a demand of an annual tax break of between $10 to $12 million. By the end of 1999, Bryden would put the team up for sale, which he would rescind in a few months. By 2002, Bryden comscame up with a new plan to re-financerefinance the hockey team. This would be his second attempt to refinance the team, with the debt for the team and the Palladium, now called the Corel Centre, being around $375 million.

It would be revealed in later 2002 the Senators borrowed $14 million from the NHL to pay bills, and by the end of 2002, the Ottawa Senators received bankruptcy protection, which included a process to sell the team. Rod Bryden would make another attempt to re-purchase the Corel Centre and the team (with the assets being considered separate). The deal was conditionally accepted, with the condition being the approval of the purchase of the Corel Centre and the blessing of the bankruptcy court. This deal would fallfell apart after Bryden's U.S.US partners backbacked out.

During the failure of the Rod Bryden bid for the franchise in 2003, Toronto-based drug industry billionaire Eugene Melnyk expressed interest in buying the team, should it go to market. Upon the dissolution of the Bryden deal, Melnyk would submitsubmitted a formal bid to buy the team, whichand wouldthe receivebid nearreceived immediatenear-immediate approval from the league, and. Ontario Justice James Chadwick would approveapproved the plan put forward by bankruptcy lawyers, and Eugene Melnyk would purchasepurchased the Ottawa Senators and the Corel Centre. During Melnyk's ownership, the arena would changechanged sponsors from Corel, from Corel to Scotiabank, to Canadian Tire in 2013. In 2023, Canadian Tire remains the title sponsor of the arena.

In 2015, Eugene Melnyk made a public plea for a live liver donor, withoutfor an whomundisclosed health condition he says an undisclosed health conditionstated would become "life threatening." A donor stepsstepped forward, and notesnoted that their hope iswas Melnyk willwould be able to bring the Stanley Cup back to Ottawa. At the same time, the location of the aging arena was brought into question. Even as the area around the Canadian Tire Centre had been built up, people pushed for a new arena to be built in downtown Ottawa, especially in light of struggling attendance figures. This led Melnyk to consider a relocation to an area in Ottawa known as the LeBreton Flats, which was being explored for redevelopment. The expanse had been left largely empty for decades, after a large fire had burned down derelict buildings whichthat were previously located on the spot.

The National Capital Commission, the organizing body in charge of redeveloping the LeBreton Flats, would revealrevealed in 2016 that the RendezVous Group, which included Eugene Melnyk and the Ottawa Senators, had been named the preferred bidder to redevelop the LeBreton Flats. This was a slow process, and fans grew upset with the owner over what the fanbase felt were penny-pinching roster moves, which saw the Senators frequently towardstoward the bottom of the league in salary spent on players. This led to a 2018 campaign from the fans, dubbed #MelnykOut, the campaignwhich began on social media and extended to billboards whichthat went up around the city of Ottawa. Fans wanted the owner to relinquish control of the team. Melnyk respondsresponded to this campaign with threats to move the team out of Ottawa.

During this period, there also appeared to be tension between the parties of the RendezVous LeBreton group. In August 2018, the group prepared to submit official applications to redevelop the land, but by NovemberofNovember of the same year, the infighting between members of the RendezVous Group spillspilled into the media. That same time, Melnyk alleged thenthat then-mayor of Ottawa mayor, Jim Watson, responded to news of the peril facing the redevelopment project with threats and intimidation. The RendezVous bid eventually failsfailed, and the National Capital Commission would renewrenewed calls for submissions of the development of the LeBreton Flats in 2021.

In 2020, Ottawa returnsreturned to a version of theirits original logo, as part of rebrand.

On March 28, 2022, it was announced that Melnyk died at the age of 62sixty-two due to an undisclosed illness. Ownership of the team passed on to his two daughterdaughters, Anna and Olivia Melnyk., Thereand arethere were questions about whether the team willwould be put up for sale again. In June 2022, the National Capital Commission makesmade a deal with the Ottawa Senators to develop an arena at the LeBreton Flats. In November of the same year, the team iswas officially put up for sale, hiring Galatioto Sports Partners to assist in the sale of the franchise.

On June 13, 2023, the Ottawa Senators announced that a group led by Michael Andlauer won the bid to enter into an agreement to purchase 90 percent of the Ottawa Senators (with Anna and Olivia Melnyk retaining 10 percent) for a price near USD $1 billion, setting a new NHL franchise record sale price. This was up from the 2022 valuation of the franchise by Sportico, which saw the club valued at $665 million, ranking them 27thtwenty-seventh out of the 32thirty-two NHL teams.

The sale process was a highly publicized and grueling process, by accounts, which grew in status when celebrity Ryan Reynolds publicly announced an interest in purchasing the Ottawa Senators. The celebrity would partnerpartnered with a group led by Toronto-based real estate mogul Christopher Bratty called the Remington Group. This drew a lot of attention from fans and from outside media, but the Reynolds-Remington Group would dropdropped out of contention in May 2023 when the group was unable to negotiate a 30-daythirty-day exclusive negotiating period to acquire land for an arena in downtown Ottawa.

Other publicized groups included Toronto businessman Steve Apostolopoulos, who had previously been part of a USD $6 billion bid to purchase the Washington Commanders NFL team. He would withdrawwithdrew his bid, rumored to be over $1 billion, citing frustrations over the pace of the sale. However, some noted concerns over the financing of the Apostolopoulos bid, with questions whichthat were initially raised in the failed attempt to purchase the Washington Commanders.

Neko Sparks, Los Angeles-based, self-proclaimed technology-entrepreneurtechnology entrepreneur, also tabled a bid, with a group including Snoop Dogg and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Donovan Bailey. The ownership group of the bid was about 75 percent people of color, and intended to become the first Black majority ownership group in the NHL. There were concerns over the group's financing, and they fell short of the final bid. Finally, another highly publicized group was one led by the Kimel Brothers of Toronto, which included Abel Tesfaye, who is also known as the Weeknd.

Andlauer was believed by some to be the NHL's favorite choice for a new owner from the beginning. He is the co-foundercofounder and CEO of a Toronto-based healthcare transportation group and private equity group, is a minority owner of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens (the shares of which he will have to sell), and has served as a governor for the Canadiens at the NHL board of governor meetings.

He also has a history of owning hockey franchises. He owned the American Hockey League's (AHL) Hamilton Bulldogs from 2004 to 2015, the farm team of the Montreal Canadiens, and brought the team to a Calder Cup championship. The Montreal Canadiens purchased and re-located the AHL team in 2015, and Andlauer, who had promised Hamilton to keep a team in the city, would purchase the struggling Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He moved this team to Hamilton, renamed them the Bulldogs, and won the OHL championship in 2018 and 2022.

The Ottawa Senators (French: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club[b] and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and play their home games at the 18,652-seat[4] Canadian Tire Centre, which opened in 1996 as the Palladium.

The Ottawa Senators, officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, are a professional hockey team playing in the NHL and competing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, the Senators play at a 18,500-seat arena first opened in 1996 and located in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa. Ottawa was awarded an expansion franchise in the NHL in 1990 and would play their debut season in 1992. They got their team name from the historical team of the city, which had been a part of the formation of the NHL in the 1920s, and had in turn taken their nickname from Ottawa's status as the seat of the Canadian national government.

The Ottawa Senators are one of two officially bilingual franchises in the NHL. Along with the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators provide their in-game programs and team-sponsored content in both English and French. In French, the team is officially the Sénateurs d'Ottawa. The Senators have made their bilingual status of greater importance since 2016, to better reflect the bilingual status of the Ottawa region.

Beginning in 1883, there was a team in Ottawa, known officially as the Ottawa Hockey Club, that was a professional hockey club that played in tournaments for the Stanley Cup as the Ottawa Silver Seven and won the tournament in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906. The team renamed itself the Ottawa Senators later, and would win the Stanley Cup again in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1923, and 1927. The Senators were a member of the National Hockey Assocation before they became a charter member of the National Hockey League, founded in 1917.

One of the early Ottawa Senators teams pictured with the original Stanley Cup.

Key players of the historical Ottawa Senators franchise include Frank "King" Clancy, after whom the King Clancy Memorial Trophy is named (awarded to the player exhibiting the most leadership on and off the ice); Cy Denneny; Eddie Gerard; Frank Nighbor; and Art Ross, for whom the Art Ross Trophy is named (awarded to the player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season).

The original Ottawa Senators were one of the first teams to suffer from what is now known as the "small-market" malaise that affects professional sports teams. The club experienced financial difficulties in the late 1920s as the NHL expanded into American cities. One attempt to recover financially involved the sale of Frank "King" Clancy, who at the time was Ottawa's most popular player, to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1930 for two players and $35,000. In spring of 1931, the team suspended operations and its players were leased to the rest of the league. The Senators returned after the year of inactivity, but the team would eventually be sold to St. Louis, where it was renamed the Eagles. That iteration of the club would be folded due to ongoing financial difficulties at the end of the 1943-35 season.

Original plan for Ottawa's logo; NHL asked for a redesign.

Beginnning in 1989, Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone headed the Terrace Investments group, which included Cyril Leeder and Randy Sexton, in a bid to win an expansion team in the NHL for Ottawa. On December 6, 1990, Ottawa would be awarded the franchise to the Senators, with the club officially hitting the ice in the 1992-93 season. The expansion fee for th efranchise was $50 million dollars, which the group struggled to secure the finding to cover the fee for. The struggle for finances, and ownership difficulties, would be a story of the young NHL franchise.

Ottawa Senators 1993 logo.

Plans for the original Ottawa Senators included a new arena on farmland the group owned in Kanata. However, this arena plan was outside the city and was not, at the time, surrounded by homes or businesses. Ottawa beat the city of Hamilton for the expansion franchise. At the time, Hamilton had an NHL-sized arena already built and open.

By 1992, Firestone and his company began to break ground on a new arena, but failed to secure the financing for the building and had few lenders which seemed interested in the project. By 1993 Firestone and Terrace Investments sold the Ottawa Senators to technology executive and entrepreneur Rod Bryden. Bryden in turn struggled to find lenders to help build the arena. Construction for the arena finally began in 1994, with a $188 million price tag. The arena is known at the time as the Palladium and is built entirely with borrowed money.

Ottawa introduce changes to the logo in 1997.

The financial troubles of the Ottawa Senators continued, with Bryden making please to the Canadian government for financial help, which included a demand of an annual tax break of between $10 to $12 million. By the end of 1999, Bryden would put the team up for sale, which he would rescind in a few months. By 2002, Bryden coms up with a new plan to re-finance the hockey team. This would be his second attempt to refinance the team, with the debt for the team and the Palladium, now called the Corel Centre, being around $375 million.

In 1997 Ottawa introduces a "3D" alternate logo.

It would be revealed in later 2002 the Senators borrowed $14 million from the NHL to pay bills, and by the end of 2002, the Ottawa Senators received bankruptcy protection which included a process to sell the team. Rod Bryden would make another attempt to re-purchase the Corel Centre and the team (with the assets being considered separate). The deal was conditionally accepted, with the condition being the approval of the purchase of the Corel Centre and the blessing of the bankruptcy court. This deal would fall apart after Bryden's U.S. partners back out.

Eugene Melnyk, owner from 2003 to 2022.

During the failure of the Rod Bryden bid for the franchise in 2003, Toronto-based drug industry billionaire Eugene Melnyk expressed interest in buying the team should it go to market. Upon the dissolution of the Bryden deal, Melnyk would submit a formal bid to buy the team which would receive near immediate approval from the league, and Ontario Justice James Chadwick would approve the plan put forward by bankruptcy lawyers and Eugene Melnyk would purchase the Ottawa Senators and the Corel Centre. During Melnyk's ownership, the arena would change sponsors, from Corel to Scotiabank to Canadian Tire in 2013. In 2023, Canadian Tire remains the title sponsor of the arena.

Ottawa Senators logo from 2007 to 2020.

In 2015, Eugene Melnyk made a public plea for a live liver donor, without whom he says an undisclosed health condition would become "life threatening." A donor steps forward, and notes that their hope is Melnyk will be able to bring the Stanley Cup back to Ottawa. At the same time, the location of the aging arena was brought into question. Even as the area around the Canadian Tire Centre had built up, people pushed for a new arena to be built in downtown Ottawa, especially in light of struggling attendance figures. This led Melnyk to consider a relocation to an area in Ottawa known as the LeBreton Flats which was being explored for redevelopment. The expanse had been left largely empty for decades, after a large fire had burned down derelict buildings which were previously located on the spot.

The National Capital Commission, the organizing body in charge of redeveloping the LeBreton Flats, would reveal in 2016 that the RendezVous Group, which included Eugene Melnyk and the Ottawa Senators, had been named the preferred bidder to redevelop the LeBreton Flats. This was a slow process, and fans grew upset with the owner over what the fanbase felt were penny-pinching roster moves, which saw the Senators frequently towards the bottom of the league in salary spent on players. This led to a 2018 campaign from the fans, dubbed #MelnykOut, the campaign began on social media and extended to billboards which went up around the city of Ottawa. Fans wanted the owner to relinquish control of the team. Melnyk responds to this campaign with threats to move the team out of Ottawa.

During this period, there also appeared to be tension between the parties of the RendezVous LeBreton group. In August 2018, the group prepared to submit official applications to redevelop the land, but by Novemberof the same year the infighting between members of the RendezVous Group spill into the media. That same time, Melnyk alleged then Ottawa mayor Jim Watson responded to news of the peril facing the redevelopment project with threats and intimidation. The RendezVous bid eventually fails, and the National Capital Commission would renew calls for submissions of the development of the LeBreton Flats in 2021.

In 2020, Ottawa returns to a version of their original logo as part of rebrand.

On March 28, 2022, it was announced that Melnyk died at the age of 62 due to an undisclosed illness. Ownership of the team passed on to his two daughter, Anna and Olivia Melnyk. There are questions whether the team will be put up for sale again. In June 2022 the National Capital Commission makes a deal with the Ottawa Senators to develop an arena at the LeBreton Flats. In November of the same year, the team is officially put up for sale, hiring Galatioto Sports Partners to assist in the sale of the franchise.

On June 13, 2023 the Ottawa Senators announced that a group led by Michael Andlauer won the bid to enter into an agreement to purchase 90 percent of the Ottawa Senators (with Anna and Olivia Melnyk retaining 10 percent) for a price near USD $1 billion, setting a new NHL franchise record sale price. This was up from the 2022 valuation of the franchise by Sportico, which saw the club valued at $665 million, ranking them 27th out of the 32 NHL teams.

Ryan Reynolds visits the Canadian Tire Centre.

The sale process was a highly publicized and grueling process, by accounts, which grew in status when celebrity Ryan Reynolds publicly announced an interest in purchasing the Ottawa Senators. The celebrity would partner with a group led by Toronto-based real estate mogul Christopher Bratty called the Remington Group. This drew a lot of attention from fans and from outside media, but the Reynolds-Remington Group would drop out of contention in May 2023 when the group was unable to negotiate a 30-day exclusive negotiating period to acquire land for an arena in downtown Ottawa.

Other publicized groups included Toronto businessman Steve Apostolopoulos who had previously been part of a USD $6 billion bid to purchase the Washington Commanders NFL team. He would withdraw his bid, rumored to be over $1 billion, citing frustrations over the pace of the sale. However, some noted concerns over the financing of the Apostolopoulos bid, questions which were initially raised in the failed attempt to purchase the Washington Commanders.

Neko Sparks, Los Angeles-based self-proclaimed technology-entrepreneur also tabled a bid, with a group including Snoop Dogg and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Donovan Bailey. The ownership group of the bid was about 75 percent people of color, and intended to become the first Black majority ownership group in the NHL. There were concerns over the group's financing, and they fell short of the final bid. Finally, another highly publicized group was one led by the Kimel Brothers of Toronto, which included Abel Tesfaye, who is also known as the Weeknd.

Michael Andlauer wins bid for Ottawa Senators.

Andlauer was believed by some to be the NHL's favorite choice for a new owner from the beginning. He is the co-founder and CEO of a Toronto-based healthcare transportation group and private equity group, is a minority owner of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens (the shares of which he will have to sell), and has served as a governor for the Canadiens at the NHL board of governor meetings.

He also has a history owning hockey franchises. He owned the American Hockey League's (AHL) Hamilton Bulldogs from 2004 to 2015, the farm team of the Montreal Canadiens, and brought the team to a Calder Cup championship. The Montreal Canadiens purchased and re-located the AHL team in 2015, and Andlauer, who had promised Hamilton to keep a team in the city, would purchase the struggling Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He moved this team to Hamilton, renamed them the Bulldogs, and won the OHL championship in 2018 and 2022.

Andlauer's group included multiple local Ottawa business people and builders, such as Farm Boy co-CEO Jeff York and the Malhotra family and their Claridge Homes real estate company. Upon the announcement of the purchase, Andlauer released a statement, which said:

My family and I are very excited to be part of the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club. I believe that the Senators' fanbase is one of the most passionate in the league and I'm excited to take the franchise's success both on and off the ice to the next level.

Draft bust Alexandre Daigle.

The first season of the new Ottawa Senators, the 1992-93 season, saw them enter the league alongside their expansion sibling Tampa Bay Lightning. The first few seasons were forgettable, with the first season seeing the Senators win a total of ten games of the then eighty-four game season. The Senators would use their first overall draft pick in the NHL entry draft to select highly touted junior hockey star Alexandre Daigle. The pick, a record-setting scorer in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, turned out to be one of the biggest draft busts in NHL history and never lived up to expectations, never scoring more than 51 points for the Senators. He would later be traded in 1998 to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Star forward Alexei Yashin.

In the 1996-97 season, the young franchise would make a change behind the bench, hiring defensive-minded coach Jacques Martin, who would help the Senators climb to respectability. In that season, they would make the playoffs for the first time. In the 1997-98 season, Ottawa posted a winning season for the first time in franchise history. And in 1998-99, Ottawa would finish first in the Northeast Division (as it was known then) with 44 wins. The team continued to show promise, led by rising stars in Daniel Alfredsson, Alexei Yashin, and Wade Redden, and the improved play would earn Jacques Martin the Jack Adams Award.

In 1998, star forward Alexei Yashin was named captain of the team. But the player demanded to renegotiate his contract soon after, and during this dispute would sit out the entire 1999-2000 season. Yashin was stripped of his captaincy, which was given to Alfredsson, and in 2001 Yashin was traded to the New York Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt, and a draft pick that was used to draft future franchise player Jason Spezza.

Ottawa and Toronto forwards scrap during game.

During this period, the Ottawa Senators became one of the top clubs in the NHL. This saw them set franchise records for wins (52) and regular season points (113) in the 2002-03 season, and won the Presidents' Trophy, awarded to the team with the most regular season points, and the first time a Canadian NHL team had won the trophy since 1989, when the Calgary Flames won it. It was also Ottawa's second division title in three seasons. However, during this time, Ottawa struggled in the playoffs, often coming short in series against their inter-provincial rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who would defeat them in four postseason series between 2000 and 2004. This led to the development of a rivalry between the two clubs which came to be known as the "Battle of Ontario."

Captain Daniel Alfredsson presented with the Prince of Wales trophy after Senators win Eastern Conference finals.

After the 2004-05 season was cancelled due to a player lockout, the Senators made waves by announcing a blockbuster trade for highly touted sniper Dany Heatley. In his first season, Heatley would go on to score 50 goals and more than 100 points, becoming the first Ottawa Senators player to reach both benchmarks. This led to the creation of a powerful top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza. The line powered the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007. But there, the team came up short, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.

The off-ice instability the Senators franchise had been going through would lead to on-ice instability, with the club losing star players, and the talent on the roster being diminished. After the loss in the Stanley Cup Finals, the club fired general manager John Muckler and replaced him with Bryan Murray, who had been the architect of the Anaheim Ducks team they had lost to. The following season would see the club reach the playoffs again, but they failed to replicate their playoff success. Coach Craig Hartsburg would replace previous coach John Paddock. And a year later Hartsburg would be replaced by Cory Clouston. During the season, the team struggled and failed to make the playoffs, ending an 11 year consecutive run of seasons reaching the post-season.

Ottawa introduces a "heritage O" logo to celebrate the teams history.

The instability continued, as star forward Dany Heatley would request a trade before the 2009-10 season, reportedly upset with his role on the team. Trouble continued the next season, as the team posted a losing record by the end of December 2010, and management began to trade away veteran players including fan favorites Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly. At the end fo the 2010-11 season, Bryan Murray fired the entire coaching staff, and hired Paul MacLean as the new head coach.

Forward Clarke MacArthur wearing the heritage classic jersey featuring the "O".

During the 2011-12 season, Ottawa celebrated the club's 20th anniversary of its return to league. To help with the celebration, Ottawa hosted the 2012 All-Star Game. MacLean would help the team return to the playoffs that season, and for his efforts, MacLean would win the Jack Adams Award in 2013. However, the 2013 off-season would provide more disappointment for fans, as long-time captain and fan favorite Daniel Alfredsson left in free agency after failing to find an agreement with management. Alfredsson played the next season with the Detroit Red Wings before retiring.

Ottawa Senators name Erik Karlsson 9th franchise captain.

Thus began the next era of the Ottawa Senators. In 2013, Jason Spezza would be named captain of the franchise, but at the end of an unsuccessful season, the star forward would request a trade, in which he was moved to the Dallas Stars. In 2014, the young phenom defenseman Erik Karlsson was named the ninth captain in Ottawa Senators franchise history. Ottawa faltered to begin the season, and Paul MacLean was dismissed in December, with assistant coach Dave Cameron would take over coaching duties. The team would go on a miraculous run in the last half of the season, led by performances from replacement goaltender Andrew "the Hamburglar" Hammond and rookie Mark Stone, and finished the season with a remarkable 20-1-2 record. However, the team came up short in the playoffs, and were eliminated at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens.

The magic of the previous season did not continue. The Senators finished the 2015-16 season with 38 wins and the third most goals-against in the league. Head coach Dave Cameron was fired once the season ended. Bryan Murray, general manager since 2007, stepped down from his position, and assistant general manager Pierre Dorion was promoted. A new head coach was brought in: Guy Boucher. With the new coaches defensive and counter-strike system based play, the Senators finished the season with 44 wins and finished second in the Atlantic Division. In the post-season, the Senators went on a run, facing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals, but would lose in double overtime of game seven.

Senators players "devastate" after double-overtime loss to Penguins.

Despite the previous season and the narrow miss of the Stanley Cup Finals, the club struggled out of the gate. Early in the season general manager Pierre Dorion sought to address the needs of the club and acquired center Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche to bolster their offense and improve their chances at a championship. However, Duchene did not deliver the offensive advantage expected of him, and inconsistent goaltending led to struggles. This began a toxic relationship with the fanbase and the organization, including the above mentioned #MelnykOut campaign, threats from owner Eugene Melnyk to move the club, and videos of the players bad-mouthing the team. Attendance dwindled, and many of the clubs stars were rumored to on the move.

September 2018 signalled the beginning of a rebuild period for the team. While the departure of Alfredsson signaled a rebuild, the team never performed poorly enough on the ice to garner top end draft picks. This would be different, as the Senators would trade captain Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks in 2018 in a multi-player and draft pick deal. Following that, top players including Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau were traded for young prospects or picks at the NHL draft. Meanwhile, other veteran players were allowed to enter free agency.

Ottawa Senators name young star forward Brady Tkachuk tenth franchise captain.

Guy Boucher was fired towards the end of the 2018 season, and first-time NHL head coach D.J. Smith would be hired. Known as a strong communicator and players coach, he was known to have a strong record working with young players and developing those players. This would be important, as the roster spots taken by veterans would be replaced by young players such as Brady Tkachuck, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, and Tim Stützle. Trades for established players including Alex DeBrincat, Cam Talbot, and Jakob Chychrun and free-agency acquisition Claude Giroux increased hope for the 2022-23 season.

This came after the disappointing 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, in which the young team could be seen to be taking strides on the ice, but the players surrounding those young, rising stars failed to meet expectations. In 2021, the Senators named Brady Tkachuk the 10th captain in team history. The 2022-23 season saw the team take significant on-ice strides, with good underlying numbers (such as a third-place powerplay at 28.1 percent and a sixth-place penalty kill at 82.2 percent) as the club pushed for playoffs. They would eventually fall short, at six points out from a playoff berth.