While things continue to downward spiral on the ice for the Ottawa Senators, Eugene Melnyk is about to be a happy camper off the ice.
The Senators lost the second half of their US Midwest road trip, falling 3-0 to Carter Hutton and the St. Louis Blues, a night after they lost in Minnesota.
On a night where they didn't get any offense at all it is tough to put the blame on the goalie, but Craig Anderson had another night where he made a lot of saves but the two that did get by him were both very stoppable pucks. Vladimir Sobotka's icebreaker went right through him and Vladimir Tarasenko's insurance marker was a long shot off a rebound where the Ottawa netminder showed no inclination to being set for the pending shot. Like much of the play of the guys in front of him, he just seems late in reacting far too often, and it is deflating to see.
With the Sabres putting a beat-down on another frustrated Canadian team in the Oilers, Ottawa is now just 4 points ahead of the Sabres in the race for Eastern Conference ineptitude.
They will return home to wrap up the pre-All-Star portion of their schedule with a game Thursday night against the Bruins.
Thursday will also be a banner day for owner Eugene Melnyk and his RendezVous LeBreton partners, as it is expected to be announced that they and the NCC have come to an agreement in principle on the LeBreton Flats project.
Those in the "#MelnykFree" camp had a glimmer of hope that Melnyk would not be able to come to a deal and that he would be forced to sell the club, but it doesn't look like he is going anywhere.
It could be a turning point for the franchise, but the announcement is just the first step, and Melnyk and Co. will have a lot of hoops to jump through in terms of financing, civic approval and public opinion before it is finalized.
A new rink is probably close to 7-8 years away, and in the short term you have to wonder about what level of financial commitment the owner can have to the Senators while he tries to secure $3B in financing for the project. It's not like he has a great track record of late when it comes to that type of discussions involving finance.
This could be a good thing, or it could be a tire fire in the short term for the Senators franchise. Hopefully it is the former, but past history worries me that it could fall into the latter category.
On the plus side, if nothing else, it pretty much assures that Melnyk won't move the team to another city, but on the other hand it also means there is zero chance that he sells now.
Only time will tell...