Good piece by Nichols of The6thSens on the same subject. A few gems of this long read.

It is a ridiculous assertion because no fan wants to see the organization spend stupidly or spend for the sake of spending.
Fans simply want reassurance that when the Senators are in a position to be competitive and win, the organization has the ability to use its resources to get that final piece of the puzzle or retain its best young assets when it comes time for them to re-up.

Seriously, how much more can fans take of this organization operating like it cannot stomach the idea of patiently building a winner.

...the current philosophy of trying to contend on a bottom five payroll while obviously not having the financial resources to augment their best offensive talent is a terrible, terrible philosophy.

The ****tiest part for me is that I still believe the Senators can win or at least be better than a bubble team that perennially vies for a playoff spot. I agree with Bryan Murray when he says that the team can win on a budget.

Shrewd doesn’t involve spending 21.7-percent of your salary payroll on the likes of Greening, Michalek, Phillips and Neil.

Pan wrote:

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Kardinal wrote:

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I've never understood the concept of "Melnyk is cheap" simply because he's not spending to the hyper-inflated cap due to some large market teams. A hockey team, like any business, should be financially self-sufficient rather than propped up by outside money from the owner's pockets or poached from other related businesses. The building should be self-sufficient as well, and the revenue it generates should go into upkeep and improvements (another thing fans are calling for) rather than going into playing team costs.

If Melnyk doesn't want to dump his own money into the team every year, because it doesn't generate enough revenue to spend to the cap every season, he shouldn't have to. Of course, spending-spending-spending doesn't guarantee success either, but fans like to point at the "obvious fix" to a team's problems, but given some of the UFA signings that have happened yesterday and today, I'm glad it's a team that doesn't spend willy-nilly.

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 Somewhat agree, but I feel that the related businesses (especially the building)  are codependent.  Most teams that own their buildings (which tends to be the Canadian markets only, I believe) run the whole package as a business plan. Stating that ALL of the revenues from the TV deal (noting that 50% goes to the players) is a management choice, but to operate on a loss or need a Captial influx annually will lead to a disaster.   BUT, assuming that the hockey team can operate only on ticket sales and concessions is impossible and the building which is huge and used MAYBE 100 days a year cannot be sustainable on its own. The numbers just don't support that. 

Melnyk gets regs the extra bump for owning capital tickets, which is smart by him, and that company also makes  money through sales of 67 tickets, redblacks, fury, concert and other events. I broke down those numbers earlier this season. 

After talking to Ian Mendes on the last show, I also agree that spending to the cap isn't always the answer, but this is all consumer behaviour and marketing.  To me, it seems that Melnyk wants fans to pay for the tickets, merch, concessions now and from there, he'll save money and turn profit to be able to spend in 2-3 years. As a consumer, why would I want to pay $2,500 now for my two seats instead of not buying, watching on TV, or buying game day tickets if the team goes on a streak?  You're offering me a sub par product vs. other teams, and expect me to pay a lot for it?  That's a disconnect for me.  I'm a die hard and I'm questioning this. How does a latent fan feel?

Continuing on that point, I wondered  as to  how the Senators would be able to attract  top talent. They have about $5M  for a player available now, but we got zero new players on July 1. NONE! How do the players who have 29 other teams to choose from see Ottawa as an organization? I don't think it's the city, and fans and media put the same pressure in any town. There's problems with organizational culture, and possibly not ownership, that's the #1 problem right now. 

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 Hey Pan, we were working on lengthy answers in the same time

Kardinal wrote:

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I've never understood the concept of "Melnyk is cheap" simply because he's not spending to the hyper-inflated cap due to some large market teams. A hockey team, like any business, should be financially self-sufficient rather than propped up by outside money from the owner's pockets or poached from other related businesses. The building should be self-sufficient as well, and the revenue it generates should go into upkeep and improvements (another thing fans are calling for) rather than going into playing team costs.

If Melnyk doesn't want to dump his own money into the team every year, because it doesn't generate enough revenue to spend to the cap every season, he shouldn't have to. Of course, spending-spending-spending doesn't guarantee success either, but fans like to point at the "obvious fix" to a team's problems, but given some of the UFA signings that have happened yesterday and today, I'm glad it's a team that doesn't spend willy-nilly.

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 Somewhat agree, but I feel that the related businesses (especially the building)  are codependent.  Most teams that own their buildings (which tends to be the Canadian markets only, I believe) run the whole package as a business plan. Stating that ALL of the revenues from the TV deal (noting that 50% goes to the players) is a management choice, but to operate on a loss or need a Captial influx annually will lead to a disaster.   BUT, assuming that the hockey team can operate only on ticket sales and concessions is impossible and the building which is huge and used MAYBE 100 days a year cannot be sustainable on its own. The numbers just don't support that. 

Melnyk gets regs the extra bump for owning capital tickets, which is smart by him, and that company also makes  money through sales of 67 tickets, redblacks, fury, concert and other events. I broke down those numbers earlier this season. 

After talking to Ian Mendes on the last show, I also agree that spending to the cap isn't always the answer, but this is all consumer behaviour and marketing.  To me, it seems that Melnyk wants fans to pay for the tickets, merch, concessions now and from there, he'll save money and turn profit to be able to spend in 2-3 years. As a consumer, why would I want to pay $2,500 now for my two seats instead of not buying, watching on TV, or buying game day tickets if the team goes on a streak?  You're offering me a sub par product vs. other teams, and expect me to pay a lot for it?  That's a disconnect for me.  I'm a die hard and I'm questioning this. How does a latent fan feel?

Continuing on that point, I wondered  as to  how the Senators would be able to attract  top talent. They have about $5M  for a player available now, but we got zero new players on July 1. NONE! How do the players who have 29 other teams to choose from see Ottawa as an organization? I don't think it's the city, and fans and media put the same pressure in any town. There's problems with organizational culture, and possibly not ownership, that's the #1 problem right now. 

Pan wrote:

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labru wrote:

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I saw Benoit is still available as a UFA, give it a shot for 2yrs @1,5M?

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 So you want 9 defencemen?

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 Nope I want 7, but it's not hard for me to point out a few that can go! Dealt or bought out. 

I'd like to keep: Karlson, Methot, Cowen, Wiercioch, Benoit, Gryba and another signing/dealt for D. Ceci should play in Bingo for another year, although I know some people here wouldn't agree :P

Kardinal wrote:

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I've never understood the concept of "Melnyk is cheap" simply because he's not spending to the hyper-inflated cap due to some large market teams. A hockey team, like any business, should be financially self-sufficient rather than propped up by outside money from the owner's pockets or poached from other related businesses. The building should be self-sufficient as well, and the revenue it generates should go into upkeep and improvements (another thing fans are calling for) rather than going into playing team costs.

If Melnyk doesn't want to dump his own money into the team every year, because it doesn't generate enough revenue to spend to the cap every season, he shouldn't have to. Of course, spending-spending-spending doesn't guarantee success either, but fans like to point at the "obvious fix" to a team's problems, but given some of the UFA signings that have happened yesterday and today, I'm glad it's a team that doesn't spend willy-nilly.

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Up until this year all that's true. But now he has numerous more revenue streams he's never had before. And he sold those horses.  You were right earlier he needs to quit talking but he does now have money to sign his own Free agents that he and Murray deem worth keeping.  We don't want him signing Pouliot to the stupid contract Edmonton signed him to that's for sure but we do want him to resign Bobby Ryan and his UFA's to be for next year.  He doesn't have an excuse to let any core players walk without compensation.   

Russell wrote:

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congrats, Kardinal, on the first, and likely last, ever use of the word "willy-nilly" in the SU forums.

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 I'll try to work it in from time to time, just to keep you on your toes.