TAMPA, Fla. -
Gary Bettman says the Ottawa Senators are usually not presently on the market following the demise of proprietor Eugene Melnyk.
Talking through the first intermission of Sport 3 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs at Amalie Enviornment, the NHL commissioner indicated Melnyk's daughters -- who're 19 and 23 -- must in the end determine how they wish to proceed.
"The franchise is being professionally run," Bettman instructed reporters. "The membership's not available on the market. There isn't any urgency. The membership's not unstable.
"There are not any issues."
Melnyk died March 28 at age 62 after battling an sickness. He had beforehand mentioned he deliberate to depart the group to his daughters, Anna and Olivia.
He bought the Senators in 2003 for US$92 million at a time when the franchise confronted chapter and a tenuous future within the nation's capital.
The group is now price $525 million, in response to Forbes.
The Senators performed within the Stanley Cup last in 2007 when Ottawa misplaced in 5 video games to the Anaheim Geese, however Melnyk's relationship with the fan base soured in recent times.
The proprietor mentioned earlier than a 2017 outside sport in Ottawa he would possibly transfer the group if attendance did not improve and sparked a "#MelnykOut" marketing campaign on metropolis billboards and social media.
The Senators have not certified for the playoffs since making it to double additional time of Sport 7 of the 2017 Japanese Convention last, however have a promising younger core of expertise let by Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson and Thomas Chabot.
Company infighting and lawsuits between Melnyk and a developer over constructing a brand new downtown area -- the group has performed in suburban Kanata since 1996 -- simply west of Parliament Hill in the end torpedoed that deal in 2019.
The door, nonetheless, stays open with the land nonetheless accessible.
"That door opens, it closes, it opens and closes," Bettman mentioned. "I am hopeful that perhaps in some unspecified time in the future it's going to occur.
"Proper now we're simply specializing in the household's needs and being supportive of the household at a really tough time."
WORLD CUP QUESTION MARK
Bettman mentioned planning for the 2024 World Cup continues, together with talks with the NHL Gamers' Affiliation and the Worldwide Ice Hockey Federation.
"We're nonetheless engaged on construction," he mentioned. "A lot of discussions when it comes to the best way to put this collectively after which we'll get to the nuts and bolts of the logistics, together with who's going to take part, however we're not there but."
Bettman added no willpower has been made on Russia's participation on the match that is anticipated to happen someday in 2024 following the nation's invasion of Ukraine.
RECORD REVENUES
Bettman mentioned the league will set a file for revenues regardless of quite a few video games being performed in Canada earlier this season with out followers or at decreased capability.
The commissioner mentioned the NHL will likely be inside $150 million or $200 million of its projection of between $5.3 and $5.4 billion.
"We got here again from COVID very robust."
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Might 6, 2022.
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