2022–23 Ottawa Senators season
The 2022–23 Ottawa Senators season was the 31st season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators improved on their record compared to the previous season, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. The Senators were officially eliminated from the playoffs on April 6, 2023, in the 79th game of the season. Team business The National Capital Commission (NCC) resumed the process to redevelop the LeBreton Flats overall site, reserving the site of an arena and asking for preliminary bids on the arena site separately. After a February 2022 deadline to submit bids, the NCC announced that it had received several bids for the site. Local media speculated that the Senators were actively pursuing a bid, authorized by Eugene Melnyk shortly before his death. In June 2022, the NCC accepted the Senators' proposal for a new downtown arena and mixed-use development as part of the Lebreton Flats redevelopment. The team will lease the land for their development. Construction is not expected before 2024 after a leasing agreement is finalized and municipal review of the project is completed. The lease agreement is expected to be put in place by autumn of 2023. In related business, the outstanding lawsuits around the previous LeBreton bid were settled out of court in December 2022. The team parted ways with their ECHL affiliate, the Atlanta Gladiators, and signed an affiliation agreement with the ECHL's Allen Americans. On February 17, 2023, the Senators retired Chris Neil's no. 25 jersey. Team sale In November 2022, it was reported that Eugene Melnyk's daughters, and heirs to his estate, had engaged Galatioto Sports Partners, a New York City investment banker, to facilitate a sale of the team. The Senators confirmed the planned sale on November 5, with a condition of sale being that the team remain in Ottawa. On November 7, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds disclosed publicly that he was interested in being part of the consortium to purchase the team. This was followed by news of bids endorsed by Snoop Dogg and The Weeknd. However, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stated that the bids for the franchise would "stand on their own merit" and that negotiating in public was discouraged. The group Reynolds aligned with withdrew from bidding before final bids were submitted. The final deadline to submit binding bids was May 15, 2023. Four groups submitted binding bids. The groups were led by Michael Andlauer, Jeffrey and Michael Kimel, Steve Apostolopoulos and Neko Sparks. Snoop Dogg is associated with the Sparks bid and The Weeknd with the Kimel bid. Andlauer was already a member of the NHL Board of Governors, being a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens. The Kimels were former minority owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sparks is an entrepreneur focused on emerging technologies based in Los Angeles. Apostolopoulos is a Toronto-based billionaire who had previously attempted to purchase the Washington Commanders of the National Football League. On June 9, Apostolopoulos withdrew his bid from the process.