The Ottawa Senators are reportedly making a major announcement regarding their plans to relocate to the federal capital’s downtown core.
According to Sportsnet reporter Wayne Scanlan, the Senators will announce Friday that they have reached an agreement with the National Capital Commission (NCC) for the construction of an arena and the development of infrastructure on LeBreton Flats.
The deadline for an agreement with the NCC had been set for September 20.
Since 1996, the Senators have played at the Canadian Tire Centre, an amphitheatre whose location has long raised eyebrows.
The arena located in Kanata is more than 20 kilometres from the city centre; we are talking about a 40-minute drive with traffic congestion.
Moving the Senators closer to downtown had long been a priority of the late former owner Eugene Melnyk, but a dispute between Melnyk and one of the partners in the LeBreton Flats development could not be resolved before the NCC’s deadline.
It appears that new owner Michael Andlauer has finally managed to move things forward. Andlauer, a former shareholder of the Montreal Canadiens, officially purchased the Senators for nearly $1 billion in June 2023.
The Senators finished last season ranked 24th in the NHL in average attendance (17,580).
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