Ten key takeaways from Sens' season ticket holder event: Draft pick, new arena and more (2024)

The concept for hosting the inaugural “Spring Members Summit” was rather simple for Ottawa Senators executives.

The club invited roughly 1,500 of their fans — many of whom are season ticket holders and key business partners — to an event inside the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.

“One of the ways to get better is to listen to your fans,” team president Cyril Leeder said in his opening remarks.

And so over the course of roughly an hour, Leeder and senior vice president of hockey operations Dave Poulin addressed a wide range of questions and topics with their intimate audience.

The Athletic was permitted to observe Wednesday’s event from inside a suite at the Canadian Tire Centre. And there were 10 key takeaways — ranging from the hockey side to the business side — that should be notable for Ottawa fans.

Senators will stay “flexible” with the No. 7 overall pick

The Senators will have a chance to replenish their depleted prospect cupboard with a pair of first-round selections in this year’s draft. They will have the seventh overall pick, as well as the 26th selection, which is from last summer’s Alex DeBrincat trade.

When looking at the No. 7 selection, Poulin says there is a wide range of players who could be available to Ottawa. There does not appear to be too much consensus from the experts on how this could play out.

“This group is all over the board. By all accounts, Macklin Celebrini will go number one. After that, it’s wide open,” said Poulin. “I think this year, it’s more spread out and varied in that first seven.”

Poulin conceded teams have asked Ottawa about the availability of that pick via trade.

“We’re had interest in the pick. And you don’t know what that’s going to look like cause you don’t know what’s going to be available,” said Poulin. “You stay very flexible.”

It would be hard to imagine a scenario in which Ottawa would trade that selection, considering they haven’t picked in the first round since 2021. Maybe they would move up or down slightly, depending on how some of the picks unfold after Celebrini.

“We have our list. We’re confident in it,” said Poulin. “And now we’ll see who’s there when they call for the number seven pick.

Senators “have to improve their goaltending situation”

Prior to Wednesday’s event, season ticket holders were allowed to submit questions to Sens executives that could be answered during a Q&A portion of the evening. A fan named James submitted a question that is on the minds of many in Ottawa: “Is the team happy with the goaltending tandem or are you looking to upgrade a piece or two?”

Poulin immediately answered by saying, “The team is not happy with the goaltending tandem, but I don’t think the goaltending tandem was happy with the goaltending tandem.”

Ottawa’s tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg struggled with consistency last season, producing an .884 team save percentage that was at the bottom of the league. There is a spotlight on the crease in Ottawa and Poulin readily admits that is a position that needs to be upgraded if Ottawa wants to enjoy any degree of success in 2024-25. But he left it wide open for interpretation.

“We have to improve our goaltending situation,” explained Poulin. “Can that come from the two goaltenders we have? It can, but I think that’s still to be determined.”

Poulin says the Senators hockey operations staff has spent the offseason analyzing the quality of goals that were scored against Ottawa’s goalies in 2023-24.

“We studied it from every detail possible,” he said, referencing analytics, shot location and other metrics that helped the staff get a firm grasp on the goaltending woes.

He said that Korpisalo enjoyed tremendous success in his brief stint in Los Angeles in 2022-23 because the Kings employed an airtight defensive system in front of him. In Ottawa, however, there were far too many breakdowns and defensive miscues in the Senators zone.

“And quite frankly the defense in front of him wasn’t as good as it was when he went to L.A. and played so well down the stretch last year,” said Poulin. “We didn’t help our goaltenders very much.”

Poulin admitted that he and Steve Staios have held numerous conversations with their counterparts to find a solution in their crease.

“We’ve chatted at length around the league with different people,” said Poulin. “We’ve spent a lot of time on it. And we’re still working hard on it. Our goaltending will be better next season.”

Downtown arena “is not going to happen overnight”

We’ve got an exact date to monitor when it comes to the next step in the Senators quest to build a downtown arena.

Leeder told the crowd that September 20 is the deadline for the Senators to hammer out a definitive agreement with the National Capital Commission (NCC) on a new rink at LeBreton Flats. If they don’t come to an agreement by that date, the Memorandum of Understanding — which was signed in the summer of 2022 — will expire.

“I can tell you we’re working diligently and hard. We’re doing everything we can to try and get to that agreement,” said Leeder.

Between now and that date, Leeder says fans should “not expect a weekly or even a monthly update on the process.” And even if the Senators strike an agreement with the NCC before September 20, it’s going to be a long time before shovels hit the ground and the arena construction begins. If you read between the lines of what Leeder is saying, we’re probably looking at a downtown arena at some point closer to 2028 or 2029.

“That’s not going to happen overnight,” said Leeder. “I know there’s a group that would like for us to be dropping the puck (downtown) in two or three years. It won’t happen that fast. This is a big project.”

Veteran players appear to be target for free agency

At one point on Wednesday, Poulin referred to Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson as the “pillars” of the hockey team.

He then spoke about the importance of surrounding them with more veteran influences like Claude Giroux, whom he labelled as the most consistent player on the roster. Poulin pointed to the Dallas Stars, who have a dynamic young core in Miro Heiskanen, Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston who are insulated with key veterans.

“You see a 40-year Joe Pavelski, a 39-year-old Ryan Sutter, the age of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. We have to add more of that to the mix to help our young stars,” said Poulin.”

Sens sign Angus Crookshank who should “push for an NHL spot” next season

Poulin received a loud ovation when he announced to the crowd the club has re-signed forward Angus Crookshank to a one-year contract extension for the 2024-25 season.

The team later revealed it’s a two-way deal that carries a $775,000 cap hit if he stays in Ottawa. Crookshank scored 24 goals in 50 games with Belleville and received a 13-game audition with the Senators at the NHL level last season. The winger — who turns 25 in October — could realistically start the season in Ottawa.

“He’s a bright young talent who will push for an NHL spot,” said Poulin.

Poulin also mentioned Tyler Kleven and Zack Ostapchuk as other Belleville players who should enter training camp with some NHL aspirations.

Duties for coaching staff revealed

Poulin took time to walk fans through how the duties will be handled by the new coaching staff behind the bench. Last month, Travis Green was named as the new head coach of the hockey club. A few weeks later, his staff was rounded out with Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Yeo and Nolan Baumgartner serving as the main assistants.

Yeo will be tasked with leading the power play, while Baumgartner will handle penalty killing duties.

According to Poulin, Alfredsson will serve as a “de facto associate coach” under Green and will help with the five-on-five, penalty kill and power play units.

Poulin said that retaining Alfredsson was a crucial part of their offseason plan. They did broach the subject of asking if Alfredsson was interested in the head coaching role when they were starting their search back in January.

“He looked at us and said, ‘I think it would take at least three or four years of being an assistant before I would consider being a head coach,'” said Poulin.

A third jersey is in the works for the 2025-26

The NHL is switching its jerseys from Adidas to Fanatics for next season. That move means teams are not allowed to add any new alternate jerseys for the 2024-25 season, allowing Fanatics to get some time under its feet.

But Leeder told the crowd that Ottawa is in line for a new jersey for the following season.

“There is a queue underway now for the 2025-26 season and we’re in the queue,” said Leeder. “We’re working with the league on a third jersey.”

Leeder confirmed the primary colour of the third jersey will be red and if the team can hit all the key deadlines with the league, they should be ready to roll out at some point in the fall of 2025.

“The timelines are really tight. So far we’ve met all of them and if we continue to meet them, you’ll see a red jersey likely for ’25-26,” added Leeder. “If not, it will be for ’26-27.”

Senators planning scrimmage in Gatineau

One of Michael Andlauer’s major priorities is to strengthen the bond between Gatineau-based fans and the hockey team. There has been too much of a disconnect with the Quebec side of the Ottawa River over the past several years, with many francophone fans feeling alienated.

To that end, the club announced on Wednesday they will hold a scrimmage at some point during training camp in Gatineau, likely to be staged at the Slush Puppie Centre.

“We’re bringing our entire team over there at some point in September for a Black and White game,” Leeder said, to a loud ovation from the crowd.

Upgrades continue at Canadian Tire Centre

With the Senators staying at Canadian Tire Centre for at least the next three seasons —and maybe more — the club has decided to pour a lot of money into a significant upgrade of the team’s facilities. Under Andlauer, there has been a focus on revamping the medical room and training facilities for the players. When the players and coaches roll into training camp in September, they will have an upgraded facility around the locker room.

“Our coaches will have a totally redesigned office space,” said Poulin. “And most importantly, the players will have a state of the art gym.”

Leeder also detailed some of the improvements fans can expect at the Canadian Tire Centre next season.

One of the big changes is the addition of more “frictionless” entry points to the arena. Leeder says next year the Canadian Tire Centre will be equipped with four separate “frictionless” entry points — where fans do not have to remove their wallet, keys and other items from their pockets to pass through security. These entry points can let 47 people pass through in the same amount of time it takes the older system to take a single fan.

While entraining the arena will be a lot smoother, Leeder says they aren’t necessarily any closer to ironing out the gridlock that often envelopes the parking lots after the game. The team would love to be able to let fans jump right onto the eastbound 417 highway from the parking lot.

The Senators recently held a committee meeting with a handful of stakeholders including the local police, the company that manages the parking lot, and city and provincial officials to address this exact topic. However, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) is the only group skeptical of the plan.

“Unfortunately, we just haven’t been able to convince MTO,” said Leeder. “They’re the last group we’re working on to convince them that cars on the highway is a lot safer than cars on Cyclone Taylor or Palladium Boulevard.”

Senators tease upgraded digital platform

Senators vice president of marketing Jeff Harrop spoke briefly at the end of Wednesday’s event.

He teased the launch of a new digital portal called “Sens 360,” which is intended to be a gateway for unique storytelling around the hockey club. Harrop said the metics and feedback from fans have showed a “double digit” growth from fans asking for unique Senators-related content.

“The organization has invested the resources to do more of that. You’re going to see more content, deeper content and better content,” said Harrop. “That could be everything from pre- and post-game shows, live interviews to in-depth player profiles and behind-the scenes access to players.”

(Photo: André Ringuette / NHLI via Getty Images)