The NHL’s Ottawa Senators Are Officially For Sale

Seven months after the death of long-time owner Eugene Melnyk, the process of selling the Ottawa Senators has officially begun.

As first reported by Sportico last Tuesday, Senators chairman and governor Sheldon Plener confirmed on Thursday that “Galatioto Sports Partners has been retained as financial advisor and a process has been initiated for the sale of the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club.”

The Senators were valued at US$525 million by Forbes last December. The selling price is expected to be significantly higher.

It’s believed that several qualified investment groups are interested in acquiring the team — and the opportunity to secure a stake in a Canadian NHL franchise doesn’t come along very often, which should make for stiff competition among bidders. On Friday, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun listed Andre Demarais of Montreal-based management and holding company Power Corp., Michael and Jeffrey Kimel of Harlo Capital in Toronto, Montreal Canadiens minority owner Michael Andlauer and owner Rocco Tullio of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals as potential suitors.

Actor Ryan Reynolds, who has already successfully dipped his toe into sports ownership with a share of Welsh soccer squad AFC Wrexham, is also believed to be interested in the Senators. With an estimated fortune of $150 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, he’d need partners to complete a successful bid. But his global celebrity, Canadian roots and well-documented passion for the game would certainly make him an attractive member of a potential ownership group.

Since Melnyk’s passing at age 62 last March, the Senators have been controlled by his daughters Anna, 23, and Olivia, 20. On the ice, the club has struggled in recent years, and has missed the playoffs for five straight seasons. And like the Arizona Coyotes, who are working to bring their team closer to their fans in the sprawling Phoenix metropolitan area, the Senators have also struggled to attract fans to their far-flung home, the Canadian Tire Centre. They’ve run into one obstacle after another as they have tried to turn their own downtown arena plan into reality.

According to Plener, any Senators sale would be conditional upon the team remaining in Ottawa. And the prospect of a new arena project currently looks as promising as it ever has, after the Senators secured preferred bidder status from Ottawa’s National Capital Commission with respect to a site 10 minutes from downtown, on government-owned property at LeBreton Flats. Having a lease agreement and a building plan in place would boost the appeal of the Senators’ asset package to potential buyers, and would also presumably increase the eventual sale price.

The Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning are celebrating their 30th anniversaries as NHL franchises. They joined as the league’s 23rd and 24th teams in 1992, after paying expansion fees of $50 million each.

From the outset, the club struggled financially. In 2003, with the team in bankruptcy protection and reportedly more than $300 million in debt, Melnyk received approval from a court-appointed monitor representing the club’s creditors to purchase the Senators and their arena for $100 million.

Amidst the turmoil, the club was having success on the ice. Led by stars like Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Mike Fisher, Ottawa won its only Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season team in the 2002-03 season, and made its lone appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.

This summer, Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion set to work on remaking his roster into a competitive squad. Veteran forward Claude Giroux, an Ottawa resident, was inked to a lucrative three-year, $19.5 million contract, while young star Josh Norris agreed to a new eight-year contract with a cap hit of $7.95 million per season and Tim Stutzle signed an eight-year extension with a cap hit of $8.35 million, which takes effect starting in 2023-24.

Heading into Saturday’s games, the Senators have a record of 4-6-0 so far this season.

Over the last 12 months, two other NHL franchises have also begun the process of changing hands.

Last December, the league’s board of governors approved the $900-million sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to Boston-based Fenway Sports Group. And in June of 2022, the Nashville Predators announced that former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam has begun the process of becoming that team’s majority owner. Per Front Office Sports, the cost of that purchase will come in at about $775 million once the transfer is completed by the end of 2025.