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“The penalty that was imposed on the franchise wasn’t something I took lightly. It was not something I was happy I had to do, but I felt I had to do it.”
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The punishment fits the crime and the Ottawa Senators must do the time.
National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman was in a good mood when he spoke with reporters on Tuesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre, but anybody hoping he’d lessen the penalty of the Senators losing a first-round pick had their dreams crushed.
We do believe that Senators owner Michael Andlauer has raised the subject with the NHL’s head office, but it sure doesn’t feel like the organization is getting anywhere on that front.
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“The penalty that was imposed on the franchise wasn’t something I took lightly,” Bettman said before the Senators faced the Edmonton Oilers. “It was not something I was happy I had to do, but I felt I had to do it.”
The Senators could lose a first-round pick in one of the next two drafts as a result of general manager Pierre Dorion giving the Vegas Golden Knights the wrong information about the existence of Evgenii Dadonov’s 10-team “no move” clause when he was dealt there in July 2021.
Bettman gave Andlauer and the Senators the option to surrender the pick in one of the 2024, 2025 or 2026 drafts. The club had two first-round selections last spring, but sent one to the Boston Bruins as part of the package to get goaltender Linus Ullmark.
“The determination as to which pick will be forfeited will be made by Ottawa within 24 hours of the conclusion of the draft lottery for that year,” the league said in a statement.
As a result of the punishment from the league that was levied on Nov. 1, 2023, Dorion was relieved of his duties by Andlauer.
The Knights were under the impression that Dadonov hadn’t entered a no-trade list while he was with the Senators before the 2021-22 campaign so he no longer had one. The NHL confirmed that wasn’t the case and vetoed the deal that would have sent him to the Ducks.
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But there is precedent for Bettman to change his mind.
The New Jersey Devils were originally fined $3 million U.S., docked a third-round pick in 2011 and were scheduled to lose a first-round pick sometime in the next four years when they circumvented the salary cap by signing unrestricted free agent winger Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010.
Scheduled to lose the top pick in 2014, the Devils appealed to Bettman to revisit the harsh punishment he handed out to the organization. New Jersey was awarded the No. 30 pick in that draft, the fine was reduced and the only proviso was that New Jersey couldn’t trade it.
It will be up to Steve Staois, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, to determine when the Senators will give up the selection, but many believe the best bet is to wait out Bettman to see if he changes his mind.
At this point, it doesn’t sound like that will be the case.
Pressed by Postmedia on whether he’s willing to reconsider, Bettman didn’t sound open-minded on the reversal of his decision or having the club forfeit in a later round.
“I haven’t had that discussion in a way I think would be appropriate for me to comment publicly, but my inclination would be no,” Bettman said.
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JBD SITS AGAIN
Coach Travis Green opted not to make any changes, which meant defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker sat for the sixth straight game.
He hasn’t suited up since Artem Zub returned from a concussion on Nov. 7 against the New York Islanders. There was some belief when the 24-year-old Bernard-Docker was initially scratched that it would be a platoon scenario with veteran Travis Hamonic.
That hasn’t been the case and the Senators went into this game against the Oilers with two straight losses. Green didn’t feel a change was necessary.
“Just the coach’s decision,” Green said before the game. “I like the way (Hamonic) has played. I like the way our team has played for the most part. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Bernard-Docker, a first-round pick (No. 26 overall) in the 2018 NHL draft, has suited up for nine games this season and played most with former North Dakota University teammate Tyler Kleven in the third pairing.
Bernard-Docker will have to be patient because he’s going to get another chance to play. He would require waivers to be sent to the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville so that won’t happen.
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THE LAST WORDS
Bettman dismissed a report on the weekend that the NHL’s salary cap could rise by as much as $10 million U.S. next season.
Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman said that the league is toying with the idea of increasing the salary cap higher than the five per cent inflator that’s currently on paper in the current collective bargaining agreement.
The salary cap rose just over 5.3 per cent in 2023-24 and revenues are on the rise. Still, Bettman scoffed at it.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Bettman said. “The numbers that were being thrown around were not accurate. Any change would require an agreement between us, the league and the (NHL) Players Association in terms of how it’s computed.
“We haven’t had those discussions so I think somebody floated something on a slow news day.”
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