Not that I want to side with Melnyk, but can you provide an exact list of what happened regarding this? Living in Montreal, and seriously not paying attention to ownership before, the only thing I am aware of is what he said at the outdoor game.
Yup, that's my take as well.
We'll just do more damage by putting the team in a worse financial state that it already is. Melnyk will keep a cap floor team and even take LTIR contracts to reach the floor, and young players will want gone as soon as they deserve the big bucks. No one will want to play in Ottawa anymore, so no more competitiveness (cheapest GM possible = underwhelming returns, no UFA signings, etc). The Sens will be even more of a talent producer for other teams benefit (and drafting/developing is clearly the strength of this organization). I mean, not sure Tkachuk, Brown, Chabot, etc will enjoy playing at "home" in front of 80% Leafs and Habs fans... All of that because of an ego battle between the fans and the owner.
Melnyk was truly the savior as the franchise back :
Eugene Melnyk saved the Senators in 2003
Why was it so important this team stayed in Canada and Ottawa?
"Because of nationality and because of pride," Melnyk said. "I am a proud Canadian and I would have just been, frankly, going crazy if I saw this team (move).
"I didn’t know Ottawa that well at all. I had no connections to Ottawa, but I do have connections to Canada. I came to Ottawa hoping for the best. It’s a matter of pride. I didn’t want people to look at Canada as a bunch of losers that knows hockey, but runs franchises into the ground. We’re still here."
"You do want to win and you do want to be very proud of your team. I’m very proud of my team and the fans and, frankly, everyone in Ottawa that I’ve touched. It’s been very gratifying. It’s kind of what keeps you ticking because you look forward to the next game. I’m hoping the fans feel the same way and that they participate. If that’s going well, then everything is going well."
That article is from 2015, it's sad that 2 years later everything changed. I seriously don't even know why it escalated so quickly. I know he hasn't been "spending" close to what the Habs and Leafs can do, but there's an immense difference in market size and viability
So yeah, given that he saved hockey in Ottawa and that now he sees "MelnykOut" campaigns even on billboards, he could be preparing his vengeance. Scary.
The cap has been rising way too fast for smaller markets.
All that being said, and I am not a Melnyk fan at all, retaining money on Phaneuf, taking Gaborik back (it will eventually cost money to get rid of his contract), buyout Burrows and the insistence on including Ryan in a Karlsson deal, and all the trades that happened already, shows me that they might have the intention on being more competitive, but are going into a massive youth movement, a bit like they did in 2011. And it seriously worked really well, made the playoffs the 2 following year and in 2012-13, even won the first round against the #2 seed divisional rival in 5 little games. They missed the playoffs by 5 points in 2013-14 but then had a really strong season in 2014-15. Then missed by 8 pts the year after and finally, the peak in 2016-17 with a game 7 in ECF.