Remember how we all felt on that, whatever day that was, however long ago it was now.
It was a weekend, I’m pretty sure. Sunny. No, snowing I think. There was definitely weather.
Anyway, on that exciting day in April (maybe?), news leaked of a memo. Or was it a mission statement? Either way, Bill Daly had hammered one of those eight page emails that nobody reads and in it, he had detailed a clear vision for an Entry Draft in June.
Sure there were some flaws with the concept but Bill had answers. Maybe his answers didn’t make a ton of sense but he had ’em, damn it!
Draft picks that had already been traded would be uhh figured out. The lottery would revert to the old format to prevent a double winner. Everyone hated it. Except Sens fans. For a couple days, everything was perfect.
It might surprise you to learn that was 486 days ago. Next week never came.
And so, we continue to wait.
-In all honesty, I had to look up the latest information on a potential return to play because I have sort of lost track. All the momentum and excitement they had built around an abnormal but much-needed distraction in the form of June Draft has long faded. In all honesty, it was a little naive to think an idea that complex could come together so seamlessly under such complex circumstances. But you can see now why that was the league’s preferred approach. Instead of distracting fans with a lottery and a draft while they work on the complex details of a return to play, all eyes are instead on the NHL and the NHLPA as they navigate an entirely unprecedented situation. It’s complicated. It’s messy. And it’s mostly boring to talk about.
-The good news is, as of late last week, the NHLPA had approved the league’s format for a return to play. It’s a 24-team tournament, which includes an initial play-in round, that will eventually result in one team winning the weirdest Stanley Cup in league history. That’s the plan, anyway. Reading the official statement from the player’s association makes it pretty clear that this is just the first of many hurdles to be cleared. It’s worth noting that Tampa Bay and Carolina were the only two teams that voted against the league’s proposal. Negotiations apparently continued over the weekend and Pierre LeBrun has suggested that there could be an announcement as early as Tuesday of this week. Not next week. THIS WEEK. We shall see.
-As you would expect, there has been plenty of hand-wringing about the proposed format. Some teams are happy and others hate it. Some fans are excited and others angry. Some players are excited about the potential to return to the game they love and others are rightly apprehensive about playing hockey under these circumstances. Personally, as excited as I am about the idea of watching hockey again, I will defer to the players on this one. I can find other ways to entertain myself. If this can’t be done in a way that all players and their families are comfortable with, then I would hope the league is thinking long and hard about whether this is really a good idea.
-What remains unclear in this 24-team format is how the league will address the draft lottery and when they’ll hold the draft. The one detail that seems to be making the rounds though is this idea of play-in round losers entering into the Draft Lottery. It would mean a format similar to the one already in place, only that a handful of teams (eight in total) would get a chance at the post-season and then a chance at the lottery too. I don’t love it but it doesn’t do much to Ottawa’s situation. What I would like to see is adjusted percentages to favour the six teams missing the 24-team tournament and a maximum number of places a play-in team can move up if they win the lottery. Not sure that’s going to fly though.
-There’s been a lot of talk lately about where this pause may leave the already financially-fragile Ottawa Senators when the dust settles. Safe to assume this is a topic that is going to get increased attention over the next 12 to 18 months too. The business side of the Senators was already in rough shape before the global pandemic and it’s a pretty safe assumption that things will be even worse on the other end. The key difference is now it’s pretty hard to imagine that there would be much (or any?) local interest, should Eugene Melnyk’s hand be forced, especially at the price point the league has established for an NHL franchise. Seems unlikely there would be a ton of suitors lining up to buy a professional sports franchise in Canada right now. After everything that has happened over the last couple of years, it’s sort of terrifying to think that we might actually uhh need Eugene Melnyk.
-The uncertainty around the timing and the format of the Draft obviously has an impact on Pierre Dorion and his staff but that’s not the only way it impacts the Ottawa Senators. Rumours have been swirling for some time now that the organization had planned to launch a new jersey at or around the NHL draft and according to all the speculation I’ve heard, it was going to include a return of the 2D logo, on a predominantly black jersey. Not sure how the last few months will impact their plans on that front.
