Senators Begin Town Hall Series SensChirp

See? I told you there would be lots to talk about this off-season.

Last night, the Ottawa Senators hosted the first of three town hall sessions. The second was held this morning downtown and there is a third planned for later tonight at the CTC. The events are open to season ticket holders only and while media is present in the room, recording and questions from the media are not permitted.

And as expected, the first two sessions included a number of interesting and at times infuriating quotes from both Pierre Dorion and Eugene Melnyk.

From people in the room last night, it sounds like the event was met with mixed reviews. Comments about tangible improvements to the game day experience (cheaper parking, concession discounts) went over well, bizarre rants about the lying media and a fake apology, not so much.

A fan says he was offended by Eugene’s comments during the outdoor classic and that he thought his apology last night was insincere. Eugene cuts him off and goes on the defensive, blaming the media again. Says he will post the video on the website. — Dan Séguin (@SeguinSports) April 11, 2018

Of all the things that have been said through two town hall sessions, the blaming of the media is going to be the one that does the most damage.

For the most part, the media in this city has given Eugene Melnyk the benefit of the doubt on most things and maintained a surprisingly cordial relationship with the Sens Owner. It’s going to be a very different environment from here on out. And you could see it happening last night in the reaction from local media on Twitter. Eugene thought his job was difficult before? Buckle up.

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And while there were plenty of questions about Erik Karlsson, the answers on that front still don’t provide a whole lot of confidence when it comes to Karlsson’s future in Ottawa.

In everything he has said since his post-trade deadline media availability, Dorion has been clear that they plan to make an offer to Erik Karlsson on July 1st. Last night, he took that a step further by promising that he will not trade his Captain at the NHL Entry Draft in late June. And for what it’s worth, I think they’re being sincere here.

Their actions leading up to the NHL trade deadline suggest this wasn’t always the plan but some combination of sub-par trade offers and fan outrage clearly has them reconsidering their approach when it comes to Karlsson.

They’ll make an offer. And according to Dorion it will be an eight year deal. Whether or not the offer is enough to keep Karlsson around remains up in the air. And listening to their answers last night, it’s clear that both Melnyk and Dorion have serious doubts about their ability to get a deal done and in turn, about their ability to table a fair offer.

On a few other topics, the signals continue to be mixed.

Despite a strong commitment to invest in scouting and player development in a letter written to season ticket holders, Pierre Dorion seemed to pour cold water on the idea of building up the front office and scouting staff. This is such an easy win for the organization and the fact that they continue to resist this idea is extremely concerning.

Dorion on bumping up the scouting staff “numbers doesn’t equal quality”. “We just don’t want to go hire scouts.” “If we add people it’s got to be the right people.” — Brent Wallace (@tsn_wally) April 11, 2018

Oh and for some reason, and maybe this is a quote taken out of context, Melnyk was expressing doubt about the viability of the LeBreton project.

Question about Lebreton Flats project and it’s progress. Melnyk says it’s a much more difficult process than he expected. Huge project with a tremendous risk. Seems to be questioning wether it’s worth doing. — Dan Séguin (@SeguinSports) April 11, 2018

The quality isn’t great but you can listen to the full audio of last night’s session here. You can listen to this morning’s town hall here.