Big players form partnership in a bid to buy the Senators

There has been a lot of talk about the Ottawa Senators since the For Sale sign has gone up. Earlier this month, the Melnyk family had been exploring the possibility of selling the team and many suitors have shared their interest in buying the Senators.

We all know how Toronto-based brothers Jeffrey and Michael Kimel “expressed an interest” in buying the team and Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds has been brought up as a very interested party in getting involved as well.

However, bigger players appear to have formed a partnership in a bid to buy the Sens, per team insider Bruce Garrioch. Hamilton Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer and Oshawa Generals owner Rocco Tullio have reportedly come together to get the funds in place to purchase the team.

“Tullio, who owns the Windsor-based Rock Developments, offered late Sens owner Eugene Melnyk $650 million (U.S.) for the franchise late last year but Melnyk was not interested in selling the team.

Andlauer, a Toronto billionaire whose company, Andlauer’s Healthcare Group, was recently valued at $2.2 billion, also owns 20 per cent of the Montreal Canadiens and has attended NHL board of governors meetings with majority Habs owner Geoff Molson. He also tried to purchase the Senators several years ago from Melnyk to no avail.”

The Senators are currently owned by Anna and Olivia Melnyk, daughters of former long-time owner Eugene Melnyk who passed away in March of 2022. The Melnyk daughters have done an admirable job of guiding the team in the months since their father’s passing.

The team has been valued at $655 million in October by the Los Angeles-based magazine Sportico.

There is a clear condition in the sale that the Senators must stay in Ottawa, and the feeling is that the value of the franchise is reportedly set to rise with the Senators winning preferred bidder status to build a new rink at LeBreton Flats.

Let’s see if this partnership can take the Senators off the market!