Once the deadline passes it's over, no leverage will be shifted anywhere. And in preparing a defense for a lawsuit they decided this was the way to go. No matter how much you hate EM this must give you some hint they are worried about it.
Contrary to what the negative Nancy's say the better deal Melnyk gets the more money the team spends. They made money in the playoffs and instantly targeted Duchene, I know the wheels fell off but they did try. Also if he gets all his ducks lined up he just might sell.
What do you mean? "It's over."
The only thing I can see changing after the deadline is that Devcore can make things complicated...but Melnyk still owns the team and IMO the project will still proceed with the team, whether owned by him or not. So this is only bad for Ruddy...which is why I could understand if he has the most urgency to try to get something done now. Maybe the lawsuit plays into it. Maybe he is totally at fault in the lawsuit. My opinion is that at this point the lawsuits, while not nothing, are not nearly as important as being part of the project.
I agree that it could be a positive. But honestly, any development could be a positive depending on where everything ends up. There are multiple routes to several different positive outcomes. But yes, would love if this actually leads to the team being primed for a sale
Depends on what "better deal" means. For example: If the only deal that works financially is to keep playing at the CTC for ten years while they try to sell condo's then it might be the best deal for Melnyk, but not as good as a deal with a new owner that was more creative in their project/financing in a way that got the arena built right away, and the same amount of new arena rev onto the ice a lot sooner.
But yes. If Melnyk can get a deal that funnels as much new rev onto the ice as would a deal with any other owner, and gets the arena built as quickly as some other owner would, and the deal also works for the city reasonably well compared to other project plans...then sure, I would not really have any issues with the plan moving forward though I would still hold reservations about EM being able to maximize revenues out of this market. That being said, I will admit that actually pulling the aforementioned off would go a long way towards rebuilding my trust in his ability to successfully operate a the team in this market.
