Ottawa Senators

The Senators will not be relocating to LeBreton Flats, now that their agreement with Trinity Development Group has failed.

See here....

https://mewetree.blogspot.com/2018/11/melnyk-and-ottawa.html

As noted, I think Melnyk likely gave up on this initiative when he discovered that he was not going to be permitted to put a casino at the facility he owns in Stittsville, Ontario.  I think he needed the money that would have generated to pay for his part of the LeBreton Flats development.

He now says that the Senators will look for a different place in the city core of Ottawa to put his new facility. I live in Ottawa....there is no such place.

And so....

I think Melnyk has been quietly exploring moving this team to Toronto with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and the NHL for years.  

Melnyk would need to buy out the MLSE monopoly on NHL hockey within 50 miles of Toronto, but the economics for a team moved from Ottawa to perhaps north of the 401 would be so good that I suspect there is a number they would accept to sell their rights. If Melnyk could move the Senators to Toronto, the value of the team would at least double, and he would never have a revenue problem again.

Stay tuned.....