In today’s News & Notes, Eugene Melnyk is suing his business partner, Maxim Mamin has been loaned to a KHL team and the New Jersey Devils’ will be seeing a return of two players to their lineup.
Melnyk Sues Partner Over Senators’ Arena Bid
When it rains, it pours. For the Ottawa Senators, this statement has been applicable far too many times over the last calendar year. In this instance of the franchise, it applies to Melnyk and his newest decision to sue his partner over their “failed” downtown NHL arena bid.
In 2014, Melnyk, the owner of the Senators, and John Ruddy made a bid to build a stadium in downtown Ottawa. Unfortunately, the Senators never ended up making any form of substantial attempt at building this stadium and the mayor of the city gave the team until January to make their decisions known.
Not only is it becoming apparent that the Senators are unlikely to build their stadium on that plot of land near Parliament Hill, but Melnyk is now suing his business partner for what is being described as “an egregious conflict of interest.”
In the lawsuit, it was alleged that Ruddy began developing a housing property that was in “direct competition” with the new arena plans.
The lawsuit is worth $700 million.
This is just another in a long line of issues stemming from the Senators’ franchise, most recently coming in the form of their Uber incident.
Panthers Loan Mamin to CSKA Moscow
The Florida Panthers are loaning Mamin to CSKA Moscow as the 23-year-old Russian forward has been unable to garner any considerable ice time with the Panthers this season. A sixth-round pick from 2016, Mamin has played in seven games this season and has been held pointless in each.
In 33 games in his career, Mamin has scored only three goals and four points with the Panthers. He also scored nine goals and 25 points in 32 AHL games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. In Russia, Mamin should get more playing time though his opportunity at a top-six role with CSKA Moscow isn’t much better than it is in the NHL at this point. Still, he has experience with CSKA Moscow from his three seasons with the team from 2014 until 2017 and should get a chance to hone his talents better there than he could in Florida.
The plans for Mamin on the Panthers’ for the long-term haven’t changed and he is still expected to return to the team next season.
Vatanen and Boyle to Return for Devils
The Devils got a boost to their lineup at forward and on defense Friday afternoon as Brian Boyle and Sami Vatanen returned from their own respective injuries to play against the New York Islanders.
Boyle was out for the last five games due to an upper-body injury after scoring six goals and seven points in his first 15 games. The veteran forward has scored 112 goals and 199 points in 708 games in his career. He also announced that his cancer is in remission earlier this season.
Related: NHL News & Notes: Boyle, Beleskey & More
As for Vatanen, the 27-year-old defender has scored one goal and seven points this season and returned after missing the last three games due to a lower-body injury. He has 37 goals and 161 points in 354 games from the blue-line in his career.