Melnyk's Financial Woes: Melnyk's Budget Edition

So twitter is exploding with the latest Melnyk interview (in Citizen, I think) were he basically said that the "blank check" to Alfie would have meant no Ryan "coming in hot".  So they were willing to pay him in the $4-4.5M range and also get Ryan, but not the $6M Barry wanted.

I figure better to segregate the talk in a separate thread as not everyone wants to engage in this discussion.

I'll try to find the article link or at least get some quotes.

http://www.senatorsextra.com/main/senators-owner-melnyk-sheds-new-light-on-alfredsson-departure-internal-budget

In an exclusive interview with the Citizen, Melnyk said the team wouldn’t have been able to afford a player the calibre of Bobby Ryan — the Anaheim Ducks’ star forward the team dealt for hours after learning Alfredsson would sign elsewhere — and met the numbers put forward by Alfredsson’s camp.

“You can’t have it both ways and say, ‘Well I want this for me, but I want you to do this with me and the team.’ It’s ‘which one do you want?’”

Melnyk says he eventually told general manager Bryan Murray: “We won’t be able to spend that kind of money, so don’t promise that we’re going to bring anybody else in other than filling a hole that was there.”

This is actually quite interesting (posted by Travis Yost as a pic, so no idea of the source):

This was kind of out of left field:

http://www.senatorsextra.com/main/senators-heatley-close-to-resolving-bonus-money-grievance

“We’re coming very close to resolution,” Melnyk said. “I think we’re at the stage now of resolving matters with him to our satisfaction and his satisfaction and, you know, we’re talking directly with his agent and seeing how we can … and we have tentatively come to an understanding of how to resolve it, so I think we’re going to be fine,” Melnyk said.

Melnyk said details of that resolution are secret, though it doesn’t sound like like much, if any, money will be changing hands.

“I think part of the deal was it’s not disclosable, so I’d rather not say anything about it at this point,” he said. “But like I said, we had some legal obligations and it just, we got caught in a situation and I think that’s another lesson that was learned and won’t be repeated.”

So if he is not getting any money out of this, I certainly hope they make some kind of ruling about NTC/MVCs and trade demands.

Melnyk mentions running 7 companies. There's Trimel:


Anyone know what the other six are?

Ottawa franchise value is lower than all Canadian teams except for Winnipeg. Wow:

http://www.forbes.com/nhl-valuations/list/#page:1_sort:2_direction:desc_search:

Some more fun with numbers. That Forbes table shows the Sens are 8th in operating income ($14.5M before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization), but tied for 7th worst in the debt/value ratio (so the interest on that debt is likely dragging their net income from operations down a few rungs).

Wow, i mean i loved melnyk as an Owner but it's To a point where he HAS to start looking for a partner for this team. He cannot come out publicly with this drivel even if it might be some ploy to put pressure for a casino. Players will leave this organization and it will be all on him. He's got one year to get it all straight after that the wheels will start falling of this ride.

Muthafuckers be trippin' !

Should be "Melnyk's Financial Woes: Melnyk's Budget Edition"

He was a white knight at one point, but what's gonna happen when we need to re-sign Spezza and Ryan in 2 years - or 1 year really. I hope he understands that you can't run an NHL team in a big market pinching pennies, he'll be under intense scrutiny. Hopefully this gets resolved soon, we've all been through this before and I for one, don't want to go through it again.

wprager wrote:Ottawa franchise value is lower than all Canadian teams except for Winnipeg.  Wow:

http://www.forbes.com/nhl-valuations/list/#page:1_sort:2_direction:desc_search:

Toronto & Mtl are original 6 teams... and both owned by basically comglomerates who spend to make money. These 2 teams probably have the largest fan bases in the NHL..

Edm, Cal, Van -- have all been in the NHL a lot longer than the Sens...

6M for Alfie... NO.. Love Alfie... but that is beyond ridiculous. Then to ask that the Sens spend to the cap to give him a chance at a Cup? To do that means to get good players in trades as the UFA crop wasn't exactly excellent. So give up a slew of young players... hurting the future... for a run this year? No way... glad Murray/Melnyk did not do that..

4.5M was a decent salary for Alfie... so he signed for 5.5 in Detroit where he will make the playoffs.... but won't win the Cup.

There is no guarantee of winning the Cup anywhere. Iginla chose Pitts because of who they had and the skill they have... well that didn't work out. Hossa tried 3 teams before he got it right...

Melnyk's finances really concern me... but to tell you the truth I'm getting sick and tired of hearing about them. If he can't keep this team competitive -- and that means renewing the contracts of the players that need new ones in the next 2 seasons... then sell the team before the fans walk away.

Melnyk's finances don't really concern me because the team itself is viable. Worst case the NHL takes over until a new owner is found -- shouldn't be difficult (as long as they can restructure the debt favorably -- that 10.5% is what's killing Melnyk, probably).

That "advisor" who boasts in his Linked-In profile how he doubled the debt. Wow, I'm not an accountant but looking at the current situation I don't know if I'd advertise that fact to prospective future employers.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it was one of Yost's blogs and tweets. Melnyk has this contractor who acted as an advisor on Trimel and possibly Sens as well.

Found it:

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Travis-Yost/Gene-Melnyk-Money-VIII-Trimel-Corporation-Loans/134/53294#.Uga9wW3y2KY

The guy's name is Brian Crombie.

Ridiculous that they couldn't hammer out an agreement for 5 mil. Pathetic on both sides. Thumbs down.

Sorry, actually Crombie's LinkedIn profile *doesn't* mention his involvement with Trimel, but Yost dug up his resume somewhere.