Sept. 21, 2024, will be one year to the day that Michael Andlauer officially took over as the owner of the Ottawa Senators from the Eugene Melnyk estate after the previous owner tragically passed away from liver failure. The team was not in good shape; despite a passionate fan base and a talented core, they were struggling financially and couldn’t seem to buy a win. Taking over a team like that wasn’t going to be an easy task.
Thankfully, Andlauer was up to the task, but even he struggled at times. Looking back on his year, he said, “Last year was fast and furious. It was like trying to go 100 miles per hour and in a 50. Thank goodness I had the experience of managing a hockey club and understanding what makes a hockey club run.” (from ‘Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer drops game-changing hints over breakfast at Al’s Diner,’ Ottawa Citizen – 18/09/2024).
The 2023-24 season was certainly a whirlwind, but the Senators appear to be healthier than they’ve ever been, and much of that is thanks to Andlauer’s commitment to making the team better for everyone.
A Drawn-Out Sale Process
It’s unlikely anyone expected the sale of the Senators to be as public as it became, drawing the interest of several big-name celebrities which pushed the value up to nearly $1 billion. At one time, it looked like actor Ryan Reynolds might be the frontrunner, but in the end, it was Andlauer, a minority owner with the Montreal Canadiens, who stuck it out throughout the nearly year-long process and purchased the team for a pretty $950 million on Sep. 21, 2023.
However, while Commissioner Gary Bettman said, “We’re not on the clock, the goal is to get it right,” others disagreed. There were as many as six interested parties involved in the process after it began in November, 2022, but as the process drug on, people began to give up hope. Reynolds and the Remington Group quietly withdrew from the race in May 2023, followed by a far-less quiet Steve Apostolopoulos, who withdrew his bid a month later and claimed that the goalposts kept moving even though his group allegedly made the highest bid. Finally, in the middle of June, Andlauer was selected to purchase the team, but the process took another month and a bit to finalize.
In the end, the NHL got the owner they wanted in Andlauer, who brought a wealth of experience with his part with the Canadiens and the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Brantford Bulldogs and was well-connected in hockey circles. It’s unfortunate he couldn’t have started work at improving the team earlier, but once he was given the proverbial keys, he got down to business. He immediately added an analytics department, which the Senators had never had before, and days after the sale, he added Steve Staios as president of hockey operations.
Shane Pinto’s Suspension
The first sign of trouble was Shane Pinto’s contract, or rather, the lack of one. Now former-general manager (GM) Pierre Dorion reportedly offered the young center a one-year, $1 million deal after Pinto’s agent was believed to be looking at something in the $2.5 million range. The Senators didn’t have much cap space, but the offer was insulting and further divided the two camps as training camp approached.
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It was believed that something would get done once Andlauer took over, but September came and went without much of a peep. Then came the bombshell – Pinto had been suspended a record 41 games for breaking the NHL’s gambling policy. It was a huge blow for the Senators, who were already dealing with Josh Norris’ injuries, and left them with a massive hole at center. However, the saga did have a happy ending. Without Pinto on their roster, the team had some much-needed cap space, and when he returned, he signed for league minimum to finish out the season with the intention of revisiting the contract in the offseason. Staios and Andlauer stayed true to their word, and in July, Pinto signed a two-year, $7.5 million deal.
The Dadonov Punishment and Dorion’s Exit
While Pinto’s suspension was a tough pill to swallow, the Senators adjusted on the fly and made the best of a bad situation. A month later, however, the team was get with another blow when the NHL announced the Senators had to forfeit a first-round pick in either 2024, 2025, or 2026 due to their role in the botched Evgeny Dadonov trade that occurred back in 2022. After the Senators traded Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021, they tried to trade him to the Anaheim Ducks only to discover that he had a no-trade clause that listed the Ducks. The issue was that Dorion hadn’t disclosed the clause back in the initial trade, and after nearly two years of investigating, the NHL handed down their verdict.
Up to this point, Andlauer had remained calm and composed in the media, keeping a fairly low profile. But the harsh punishment pushed him over the edge and he didn’t mince words when he addressed the media on Nov. 1, 2023.
“Why I inherited this is beyond me. There’s no reason for (the Dadonov ruling) to last that long. I knew about it … and it was basically, from the seller’s perspective, it was really a non-issue. I don’t know if a first-rounder is a non-issue to you guys, but it is to me. The organization should have been made aware (about Pinto). … I don’t understand why (Dadonov) took so long. Maybe it was because the club was for sale and they didn’t want to disrupt, making sure the seller got the best price possible.”
Michael Andlauer addressing the Dadonov punishment
It was a fiery response from a frustrated owner, and while Andlauer may not have earned any brownie points from the NHL, he made up for it with the fans, who were just as incensed as him. Dorion was promptly fired and Staios replaced him as the interim GM while the team began their search for a permanent manager. Just like with the initial sale, the search brought up several interesting names, but the ordeal only lasted a couple of months before Andlauer simply removed the interim tag from Staios and added Dave Poulin to fill the now-vacant president of hockey operations role.
Plenty of Familiar Faces Back in Ottawa
After installing two capable hockey minds, Andlauer was able to retreat to the background and let Staios and Poulin take over the day-to-day operations. “My immediate focus was on the hockey operations when I got in here,” said Andlauer. “We made some moves that we could early on. With Steve being in his first year as a general manager in the NHL, I wanted to make sure he had the support so I brought in Dave Poulin. Then, basically Steve had to get comfortable and understand so he could make the changes he felt were necessary” (from ‘Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer drops game-changing hints over breakfast at Al’s Diner,’ Ottawa Citizen – 18/09/2024).
But that’s not to say he wasn’t busy. The Senators had a reputation issue dating back to the Melnyk days, which pushed a lot of beloved players away from the team, and Dorion didn’t improve it with his strange and unpredictable way of doing business. So Andlauer prioritized building a more respectable franchise by bringing in respectable people. The first was Cyril Leeder, who was part of the original pitch to “Bring Back the Senators” in 1989-90 and remained with the team until he was fired by Melnyk in 2017. He was one of the first people Andlauer hired.
In December, the team added another familiar face in Jacques Martin, who coached the Senators from 1996-04. With head coach D.J. Smith struggling to get results, Martin was added as a senior advisor to the coaching staff with the hope of giving them some guidance, but less than two weeks after the hiring, Ottawa fired Smith after a frustrating loss to the Arizona Coyotes, the team’s fifth consecutive loss and ninth in a 12-game span. That left Martin behind the bench for the rest of the season while Staios looked for a new coach for 2024-25, eventually hiring Travis Green in May. Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Yeo, and Ken Baumgartner were also added to the coaching staff and Rob DiMaio, who helped the St. Louis Blues win their 2019 Stanley Cup, was hired as the director of player personnel.
However, the team’s best move was adding Ian Mendes and Sylvain St-Laurent to head up Ottawa’s communications department. One of the most respected journalists coving the Senators, Melnyk held a grudge against Mendes near the end of his time as owner and tried to discredit him whenever possible, including an infamous “bush league” comment on Sportsnet 590. It damaged the team’s reputation even further, and Andlauer knew that couldn’t continue. What better way to repair relationships than to offer them a full-time job?
Still Working on LeBreton Flats
When Andlauer bought the team, the Senators had a Memorandum of Understanding regarding building a new arena at the LeBreton Flats site in Ottawa. It was a high priority for the team to figure out how to bring their building closer to Ottawa’s downtown core, but progress has been slow and arduous. The deal has been extended multiple times and with the current agreement set to expire on Sept. 20, 2024, it’s possible it could be extended again. Andlauer has been willing to negotiate throughout the process, since he sees it as a sustainability issue, not a money one.
Through Andlauer’s year with the team, it’s always come down to sustainability. He knows that buying a team wasn’t the safe option financially – especially a struggling team like the Senators – but in every interview, he always brings it back to what matters – the fans. “Everything I do I try to focus on the fan,” Andlauer said to Bruce Garrioch. “The fan is our customer and the fan is our lifeline. The one thing that really excited me when I got my feet wet here is that is truly a hockey town. Whether it’s witnessing the Bell Sensplex being full to watch prospects in the summer, or at (the Canadian Tire Centre), the fact is people really love their Sens her.e” (from ‘Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer drops game-changing hints over breakfast at Al’s Diner,’ Ottawa Citizen – 18/09/2024).
Andlauer’s first year has had it’s ups and downs, to be sure, but seeing how much he’s given to build up the team, the Senators look like they are in very good hands.
