NHL: Melnyk not interested in selling Senators

The NHL quickly shot down media reports Thursday that suggested Melnyk was
engaged in talks to sell the Senators.

According to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Melnyk disclosed that there
was an offer to buy the Senators when he spoke to the NHL board of governors
at their meeting in Las Vegas last week.

"We were aware that an offer was going to be made -- but that, in and of
itself, is not unusual," Daly told ESPN in an email. "That doesn't mean Melnyk
wants to sell. And, in point of fact, he doesn't. So, there's not really any
story here."

The Senators announced the completed financing of $135 million of debt on
Wednesday with a collection of financial organizations.

Melnyk, 59, told reporters in December that he would consider moving the
franchise -- whose ticket sales lagged in the middle of a 67-point season --
elsewhere "if it becomes a disaster," adding that he would not "blow a
lifetime of working hard to support a hockey team." He also said, as he has
many times, that he has no intention of selling the team.

Many Senators fans showed disdain for Melnyk late in the season, bringing
anti-Melnyk signs to games and buying billboards across the city bearing the
hashtag #MelnykOut.

Daniel Alfredsson, who captained the Senators for 13 of his 17 seasons with
the team before retiring in 2014, reportedly spoke with Ottawa mayor Jim
Watson in May about the hope for new ownership.

"We've talked a lot, we've talked about the future of the Senators and of its
ownership and we agree," Alfredsson told former Ottawa Sun columnist Susan
Sherring. "We hope we get a new owner."

According to ESPN, Guy Laliberte, a billionaire co-founder of Cirque du
Soleil, has been rumored to be interested in buying the Senators.

--Field Level Media