Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has added some new duties to his daily workload, confirming to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun he's taken over as the club's new CEO.
Melnyk announced Feb. 9 that former CEO Tom Anselmi vacated his position after just over one year on the job.
It's been a tumultuous year, at best, for Melnyk and the Senators, who have been in a seemingly never-ending free fall since reaching Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season. On top of the club's dwindling attendance numbers, Melnyk struck a nerve with the Senators fan base with incendiary comments regarding the possibility of relocating the franchise in December at the NHL 100 Classic, leading to the #MelnykOut trend on Twitter shortly after.
That said, the Senators did recently reach a deal in principle to redevelop LeBreton Flats - the hopeful home of a new arena in downtown Ottawa.
In the shorter term, though, Melnyk and the rest of the Senators' front office have plenty of work to do involving their roster. With Dion Phaneuf already traded, Ottawa needs to map out a plan on the rest of its rumored to be available players, including Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and of course, captain Erik Karlsson a little further down the road.
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