Sens owner Eugene Melnyk launches pre-season PR offensive

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk saysin a new video and open letterthat he and the franchise arein Ottawa for the long haul.

Echoing at times the tone of an open letter to season ticket holders in March, Melnykpromised a fresh start with a rebuilt team this season after a "horrible" 2017-18 season that saw the team drop to the second-last spot in the league.

"Right now we're in the dumpster," Melnyk admitted in a videostaged as an interview withfan favourite MarkBorowiecki and released late Monday night.

Since the first letter, the team has traded scoring winger Mike Hoffman in the midst of a cyberbullyingscandal and lawsuit, entertained the idea of trading superstar defenceman and captain Erik Karlsson, and sawassistant general manager Randy Lee resign after harassment allegations in the U.S.

"We're ready to rebuild the organization so that it represents the best of us," readsthe letter, promoted on the front page of Ottawa's daily newspapers.

In the video, Melnyk said the training campstartingThursday should end with an opening night roster Oct. 4 that should exceed expectations,with nearly half ofthem being new faces.

"Ten ofof the 22 players are going to be new, meaning they're either rookies or played under 10 games last year," he said.

"The following year it's going to up to 15 of the 22, maybe 16. That's a total turnover, which is exactly what a rebuild should be."

As it stands, the team will have to accomplish this without a first round draft pick of its own this season, which was traded away in last season's Matt Duchenedeal.

Afterthe #MelnykOutfan-funded billboard campaign pressed Melnyk to sell the team for floating the idea of moving it, the owner promised to stay.

"I'm going to stick around here for a long, long time. I'm not going anywhere," he said.

"Number two, the franchise is not going anywhere. So that's totally solid. We can all focus and get rid of the noise."

'The whole thing was insane'

7 years ago

Duration 1:06

Ottawa Senators fans react to the team's latest public relations offensive, a video featuring team owner Eugene Melnyk in conversation with defenceman Mark Borowiecki. Melnyk describes his plan to rebuild the team after a devastating 2017-2018 season.

#OttawaRising

Both the letter and video included what appears to be a new season slogan: "Ottawa Rising."

The letter said the team's leadership heard from fans at season-ending town halls and over the summer, and is now focusing on "four pillars": hockey excellence, a fan-first experience, business growth and community engagement.

It includeda nod to ongoing negotiations to rebuildLeBreton Flatson the edge of downtown Ottawa with a new arena.

"We must create the right circumstances to build a world-class arena at the heart of our world-class community," the lettersaid.