OTTAWA, Ontario -- It went down to the deadline, but the NHL's Ottawa Senators have an agreement to build a new arena downtown in Canada's capital.
The Senators and the National Capital Commission announced an agreement at a joint news conference Friday that would see the Senators purchase a 10-acre plot at the downtown LeBreton Flats site for the development of a multipurpose facility, including an arena.
The team had entered a memorandum of understanding with the NCC to develop the area, with a deadline of Friday to reach a deal. The price tag for the agreement has not been revealed.
The Senators said they cleared a couple of hurdles by being granted the ability to purchase rather than lease the land and get more than the six acres initially offered by the NCC.
"It's a great first step, but we've got a lot of work ahead of us here," Senators president and chief executive officer Cyril Leeder said. "It allows the heavy lifting to go forward now."
Leeder said there are a lot of next steps, including the design and pricing of a new facility.
"I know it's years, not months, before a shovel goes in the ground," he said.
The Senators have for years been trying to move from their longtime home in the outskirts of Ottawa to a better location within the city. They have played at the building now known as Canadian Tire Centre in the western suburb of Kanata since 1996.
The 15-mile drive from Ottawa's downtown to the Kanata facility, often slowed by traffic, has been cited as an obstacle for attracting walk-up crowds.
"When you think about major facilities and the trends now and where they are, most arenas and stadiums are going downtown," Leeder said. "When we came out here 30 years ago, that wasn't the case."
A previous deal to redevelop LeBreton Flats and build an arena under former owner Eugene Melnyk collapsed in 2019 following a fallout between Melnyk and business partner John Ruddy. Melnyk died in 2022, and his family sold the team to Michael Andlauer last year.