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With training camp opening today, Ottawa Senators players and management will have to answer questions about Brady Tkachuk’s contract situation, rather than talk about how they hope to build off the finish they had to end the past season. Which leads me to my question for Sens fans or hockey fans reading this. Should Brady soften his stance with his contract demands or is Eugene Melnyk frustrating upper management again with one of its star players, the people who he has entrusted to run his team?

After talking to ex-NHLers and present players, all of them had one common thing to say about the Tkachuk contract situation. He needs to be with the team no later than two weeks prior to the first regular season game. They all said that you can’t expect a player to jump in a week before the season starts, or the day before the season starts and be ready to play the way the coaching staff and fan base expect. Naturally many factors come into play, timing, game shape, playing pre-season games and practicing with your linemates is critical for success. This rings true more than ever as Ottawa started last season 2-11-2 and they were never able to contend for a playoff spot. They say the Stanley Cup isn’t won in October or November but a poor start by a team hoping to build on their momentum to end last season would be detrimental to the plan that management has told fans for the last two years. This is supposed to be the year that Ottawa seriously contends for a playoff spot. You need to bank as many points as possible early in the season.

In assessing the Tkachuk situation, I would say if he comes to camp any later than October 1st then you are running the possibility of the team not getting off to the start they sorely need on opening night October 14th. All I keep thinking about when you hear both sides have drawn a line in the sand is how head coach DJ Smith says Brady drags us into battle. Tkachuk leads this team in so many ways, the intangibles are large, yet Eugene Melnyk has yet again allowed his stubbornness to quite possibly affect the on ice product. Management has built this team the last few years through the draft the way Brady plays the game. His fingerprints are all over this team, so personally it’s time for management to stop with their stance that they won’t give a bonus structure in a contract that Tkachuk’s agents are seeking. Add to the fact, this team shouldn’t be going into a season with so much promise not having their captain in waiting. Eugene Melnyk needs to show the commitment he has promised to this fanbase for the last three years. He has asked the fans for patience to allow the team to execute their rebuild plan. Then Sens GM Pierre Dorion said the day he signed his extension that the rebuild was done. Sens 2nd defensive pairing looks to be Michael Del Zotto/Nikita Zaitsev but supposedly the rebuild is done. Like they say, actions speak louder than words Eugene!

When looking at the signing of Tyler Ennis to a PTO, one has to wonder if management is sincerely worried about getting Tkachuk signed soon. Would he be a stop gap for a few games if the holdout goes into the regular season? Ennis played both LW and Center in his time here a few years ago and as I mentioned in my column here on August 9th, Ottawa was looking hard at signing Ennis back in August but decided to wait it out to see if they would have to give him the money/guarantees he was looking for then. But now management circled the wagon and came back to Ennis, a guy familiar with Smith’s system. Should we read more into this or was this another supposed top 6 forward that owner Eugene Melnyk said Ottawa needed back in May on a Toronto podcast? Or was Pontus Aberg that forward? Was Michael Del Zotto that bonafide top 4 defenseman Ottawa was seeking? I say all of this tongue in cheek as it’s very clear management didn’t do anything that Melnyk went on record as saying the team needed. Plus, can you imagine MLSE going on Ottawa sports radio to talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs but ignoring the sports radio media in their own city? Of course that would never happen, in fact it would never happen in any city in North America when looking at the major sports because it would be the biggest slap in the face to the fan base. Then the front office wonders why fans in this city are so skeptical of Melnyk when it’s right in front of them! Bottom line is, get Brady Tkachuk signed now to an extension be it 3, 6 or 8 years. For once, it would be nice to focus on the ice product, after all the off ice PR nightmares that this fanbase has had to endure over the years from our owner.

Thanks for reading.
Kevin

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