The Toronto billionaire is expected to make the short trip to Ottawa for the first time since signing an agreement in principle to purchase the Senators from the estate of late Eugene Melnyk.
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Michael Andlauer will get a first-hand look at Ottawa and the Canadian Tire Centre early this coming week as incoming owner of the Senators, and he could have a couple of important items on the agenda.
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National Hockey League sources told this newspaper the 57-year-old Toronto billionaire would make the short trip to Ottawa for the first time since signing an agreement in principle last Tuesday to purchase the Senators from the estate of late Eugene Melnyk for $950 million.
Not only is Andlauer trying to arrange a meeting with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, but he’s also expected to sit down with former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson while in town.
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Since the two haven’t spoken and no offer has been made, the indications are this will be the first chance for Andlauer to get to know Alfredsson in a relaxed setting with plenty of excitement surrounding a new era for the Senators.
Together, Andlauer and Alfredsson can discuss what kind of role might suit the franchise’s first Hockey Hall of Fame inductee if the organization wants to bring him into the front office once the paperwork on the sale is completed, expected to be sometime this summer.
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Though various groups reached out to Alfredsson during the bidding process to try to bring him on board, he told all of them he was waiting to speak with the winner.
Speaking at the Ottawa Business Journal’s Mayor’s Breakfast event in February, Alfredsson said he would like to play a meaningful role in the Senators’ hockey operations department.
During a question-and-answer session with Sutcliffe, the 50-year-old Alfredsson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in November, indicated he’d like sit down with whoever purchased the team to discuss a front-office fit.
He skated with injured players this past season and spent more time around the rink while the club was on road trips. Asked by Sutcliffe that day what kind of role he’d like to play, Alfredsson was upfront.
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“I said I want to wait to see what happened, but I would love for it to be a meaningful role. That was my feeling in the summer, and I feel it even more so now, being around the team,” Alfredsson said.
“I think, with my experience and what they’re going through now, I was there early in my career, how we went from being the worst team in the league to consistently being a playoff team. I feel I have a lot to contribute to that role, so that’s kind of what I’m hoping. We’ll see what happens with the new ownership, but that’s my dream job.”
Alfredsson played 17 seasons with the Senators and was team captain for 14 of them. After retiring, he spent two years in Ottawa’s front office as a senior adviser to hockey operations before stepping away in July 2017 to spend more time with his family.
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Alfredsson has a wealth of institutional knowledge of the game, life in the NHL and what it takes to be successful. He’d be a good fit anywhere, but you get the sense he wouldn’t want a role that would have him in the office every waking hour.
Senators players enjoyed having him around the locker room last season, and he liked spending time with them.
Alfredsson could follow a similar path to one taken by former Vancouver Canucks greats Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The twins, who were inducted in the Hall of Fame with Alfredsson, moved into player development in May 2021.
The Sedins spent time with players with the Canucks and with prospects with the American Hockey League affiliate in Abbotsford, B.C. Ottawa’s AHL affiliate is only 2.5 hours away in Belleville.
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If Andlauer does get a chance to sit down with Sutcliffe, talk will likely turn to the future of the Senators in Kanata. The organization has preferred bidder status for seven acres of land at LeBreton Flats and is negotiating with officials from the National Capital Commission to get a lease.
Andlauer wants to build a new rink and had former Senators president Cyril Leeder as a consultant throughout the bidding process. Most of the bidders expressed to the NCC that they’d like more space at LeBreton Flats because the current plans call for an event centre with an attached hotel.
Sutcliffe has suggested publicly that there are other downtown sites that could make just as much sense as LeBreton Flats.
“If we want to attract more people to downtown Ottawa, and, if we’re facing challenges because federal workers aren’t coming downtown as often and the federal government is disposing of some of its buildings downtown,” Sutcliffe told reporters, is there an opportunity to put a new arena in downtown Ottawa that would attract people and become a new destination?”
Making the trip to Ottawa would also afford Andlauer an opportunity to meet local investors that include the Malhotra family of Claridge Homes and a group led by former Farm Boy CEO Jeff York.
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2023-06-17 20:39:13Z
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