The Ottawa Senators need to move on from Bobby Ryan
By Ant Barberio
Bobby Ryan’s time with the Ottawa Senators might be up. The rebuilding team needs to move on from him and his massive contract.
The Ottawa Senators have bottomed out. The good news, though, is the team was expected to bottom out and be terrible. That was the expectation. They aren’t underperforming, as everyone knew exactly what was coming.
Ottawa currently ranks last in NHL attendance this young season, but the painful rebuild is a necessary stepping stone to rebuilding a franchise that has been free-falling for some time. Painfully cheap owner and Ottawa’s public enemy number one Eugene Melnyk has made the commitment to increasing the amount spent on the team as they get better.
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Actions speak louder than words, and his actions of resigning both Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk seem to signal the Scrooge-y owner has changed his ways. Still, there is one major contract that the Senators need to rid themselves off – Bobby Ryan.
Ryan may never have been the next Wayne Gretzky, but he did establish himself as a potential 30 goal scorer when he was with the Anaheim Ducks. The initial trade that brought him to Ottawa didn’t raise as many questions as the subsequent contract he was dished out. Ryan’s current contract has him making $7.25 million a year for its seven-year duration. He also gets to submit a 10-team no-trade clause as part of his current contract.
As if the value and term weren’t bad enough (his contract was signed in 2014, long before players like Connor McDavid were deserving of $10 million-plus a year), his contributions on the Senators must have left Ottawa with buyer’s remorse. Although he posted two seasons with at least 50 points in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, he hasn’t broken 20 goals since then and struggles to break past 20 assists a season. Oh, and should we mention that he had a -29 plus-minus rating last year?
In addition to his 10-team no-trade clause, with its current value and his current production, Ryan is almost un-tradeable. A recent stretch of games where he was a healthy scratch suggests that the Senators might not have a place for him either. If you can’t make it on the talentless void known as the Sens, you probably can’t make it anywhere.
Ryan is the product of a bygone era. That era was a few years ago when the Senators seemed like they could compete. A few years ago when playoff appearances were expected, not some distant memory or fair off fantasy. A few years ago when they were within one game of reaching the Stanley Cup final. And a few years ago when Erik Karlsson was still on the team.
The Senators need to move on from Ryan. Unfortunately, their options are extremely limited and with his price tag, their options are extremely costly. Unless a buyout is arranged, Ryan will be firmly planted on the Senators balance sheet until the end of the 2021-2022 season. That’s roughly around the time Melnyk said he would start spending to the cap floor to ice a competitive team.
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Bobby Ryan has had a good career, and Ottawa’s situation in no way a fault of his own. Ottawa and himself have to accept that Ryan has no future with the team. Ryan’s NHL career might not be over, but his time with the Senators should be.