The Ottawa Senators called a press conference on Tuesday to discuss plans for their 25th anniversary season.



But instead of talking about the past, all of the focus is now on the future of the organization after owner Eugene Melnyk made some strong comments about the direction of the club.



The Senators are currently sitting seven points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with only nine games left to play. And as a result, Melnyk is promising changes to the club moving forward.



“I'm looking at all of it — right across the board. There's no one that's safe when you've had a year like we just did. There's no way,” Melnyk told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday morning. “The status quo will just get us there again next year. And this team cannot survive not making the playoffs. You can't just throw money at these things. We need to do it a different way and I think we are.”



Melnyk sounded somewhat exasperated when asked to summarize the 2015-16 campaign for his club, calling it a “total roller coaster of hope and despair.”



When asked specifically about what kind of changes he is thinking about making in the off-season, Melnyk answered by saying, “Not a lot of changes — but key changes.”



That has left many to interpret if that was a subtle shot at head coach Dave Cameron, who has been on the hot seat lately with the team's poor performance. Melnyk even pointed out one significant lineup move that Cameron made all the way back in October, when he opted to give rookie Matt O'Connor his first-ever NHL start in the team's home opener, rather than use Craig Anderson on back-to-back nights. The Senators lost the game 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens and Melnyk holds that game up as one of the examples of where the team fell short this season.



“It was inconsistency and some stupidity. I go back to the [home opener] and you put in the second goalie. Like, what was that about on opening night?” Melnyk asked. “And the guy gets clobbered. That's not fair to him; it's not fair to the fans.”



Melnyk re-iterated that it wasn't only the coach being scrutinized by ownership. “I think every single aspect of the team is under the microscope right now,” he said.



But it appears as though whatever replacements he may have in mind for various positions could also come from outside the organization. On Tuesday, Melnyk hinted that waiting to see what candidates are available from other organizations might be the best route for his club to take.

“We're grooming people, we're looking. I think after the season is done, you'll see fallouts everywhere. There's going to be a lot of changes in the NHL with coaches and general managers, but right now I leave it to Bryan,” Melnyk said.

One of the people that Melnyk and the Senators are grooming internally is Daniel Alfredsson, who was given the role of senior advisor to hockey operations before the start of this season. If Melnyk was looking to hit a public relations home run, he could simply increase Alfredsson's role within the hockey operations department. While general manager Bryan Murray is expected to make a decision on his future as general manager in the next few weeks, the possibility could be raised of Alfredsson's assuming the role.

When asked directly about that possibility Tuesday by TSN.ca, Alfredsson says he hasn't had any formal discussions about becoming the club's next general manager.



“I haven't talked to Bryan at all about it. I'm not going to say one way or another once we talk about it, so I'll leave it at that,” Alfredsson said.



Current assistant general manager Pierre Dorion has been the long-rumoured successor to Murray as the club's general manger.



The months ahead should be very interesting for the structure of the Senators’ front office and coaching staff, as Melnyk has made it clear that changes are coming.



“I think things can be fixed. And I think everyone knows where things can be fixed,” he said.