A day after the Senators’ unveiled their bid for LeBreton Flats, owner Eugene Melnyk delivered an olive branch to fans, suggesting they’d see a stronger, more successful club if it moves downtown.

Speaking during an interview with Postmedia before attending Round 2 of the public consultation with representatives of the other group — Devcore Canderel DLS — Wednesday night, Melnyk indicated the revenue streams from a new arena could mean adding as much as $10 million to the payroll.

That’s a dollar figure that would allow the Senators to compete with the league’s big spenders.

“The total project is going to be a net contributor to the Senators,” said Melnyk on Wednesday. “We can spend more.

“Imagine if we were able to bring in, and pay for, two power forwards or a forward or a defenceman with an extra $10 million ... we can add that (now) and we have cap space but the team cannot afford it. It’s simple.”

With the 27th largest-market in the league and only 4% of their fanbase making the trek to the Canadian Tire Centre from Gatineau, the Senators believe it’s time to move out of their Kanata suburb and head to LeBreton. Melnyk calls the new LRT “a game-changer” for the project.

The Senators have one of the few suburban arenas left in the NHL. Only Arizona (Glendale) and Florida (Sunrise) are on the outskirts of their respective cities. Melnyk says being 10 minutes West of downtown will halt the massive losses he’s had in his 13 years as the club’s owner.

“We need to get this done,” said Melnyk.

There’s no question Melnyk is proud of what his group presented and is confident they’ll get the nod from the government.

“If we get this, which we expect to, this will be the hallmark of something I’ve worked all my life to get done,” he said. “This is going to be forever and it’s going to be something you’ve created.

“I’ve never been a real estate developer but you can see why there’s a thrill. It’s thrilling when you can look at something and say, ‘Wow, I did that. I owned it. I developed it. I remember where I got this idea.’ The whole team wants to be part of that.”

The key for the Senators is that they plan to get shovels in the ground for the new rink quickly in Phase 1. They’d like to have Opening Night in October 2020 — but that would only happen if all the approvals are done in a timely fashion and there are no construction delays.

But Melnyk believes having what the group is calling an “events centre” in place first will draw people to LeBreton immediately and will bring traffic to the area, which is key in the development.

“It’s anchoring our Phase 1,” said Melnyk. “It’s an anchor attraction. That’s where we put all our games, that’s where we put all of our events. We have 170 events a year. We’re driving five million visitors but two million will be for the event centre.”

Melnyk said it’s not just about hockey.

“We do bring a hockey team but that’s just an anchor for everything else — including the events centre — but you have to look at all the other great things,” said Melnyk. “I’d say 30% is the events centre and 70% is everything else. It’s going to be a place where people in Ottawa and visitors can go for the day.

“It will be the destination in Ottawa and it’s going to be destination globally.”