Sens in the Red?

OTTAWA, ON -- The upcoming Stanley Cup Finals will be the final chapter in the 2021-2022 RHL season. For most teams, this would be a moment of hope and promise for a better year to come, with exciting events such as the entry draft and free agency filling out our summer. But a new report out of the nation's capital suggests the end of the season might not bring good news for the local team. Any team not solvent by the end of the fiscal year is subject to a bankruptcy auction and will be forced to sell assets (read: players) to get back into the black before next season. If the report is correct, Ottawa will need to get creative to avoid losing a key piece of their present and/or future.

An ambitious 2021 free agency period saw Ottawa dole out $16 MILLION is signing bonuses last summer. This effectively means the team spent upwards of $100 MILLION on players for the 2021-2022 season, far exceeding the salary cap. Despite this spending, the Sens' out of the way arena, high ticket prices, and uninspiring performances on home ice meant fans rarely filled the building, shorting the owners on the revenue needed to cover such high costs. No playoff berth also cost the team some extra gate revenue.

Critics are blaming still fairly green GM Noddan's poor money management for the team's situation. If the Senators end up losing a star player or 1st round draft pick to the bankruptcy auction, you can bet he'll be on the hot seat. Managers have been fired for much less. Luring long-shot rookies with expensive max signing bonuses and antagonizing GMs and wasting money on offer sheets for borderline players are the obvious mistakes. Buyout out Loui Eriksson's 3-year, $5.7 million dollar contract turned out to be a penny-wise but pound-foolish decision, and ended up costing Ottawa $10 MILLION this season.

Given the tough spot, Noddan is looking to be creative to straighten up the franchise finances and balance the books by the season's end. Some options include selling some of Ottawa's expansion draft protection slots, taking on bad contracts in exchange for cash up front, or even outright exchanging players for cash. It remains to be seen whether he'll be able to find a trading partner, however. Opposing GMs might instead swoop in and pay more for the souls of a bankrupt team then bail them out for a smaller but certain prize.

Even if they manage to scrape enough pennies together to stay afloat, Ottawa won't be in a position to chase free agents aggressively this summer either. The team needs top 6 wingers and a starting goalie, but they won't come cheap. Unfortunately for the Sens, cheap is all they can offer.

No matter how you slice it, Ottawa will be a worse team next season because their GM mismanaged the books this year with nothing to show for it. But Ottawa is a resilient city, and the Senators will ice the best team they can next year with a single goal: Lord Stanley's Cup.