“It’s close,” he mentioned Tuesday on the NHL/NHLPA participant media tour simply exterior Las Vegas. “I believe all the most important leg work has been executed already.
“I would expect that the transaction should close, if not before training camp, certainly early in training camp.”
The Senators went up on the market final November following the demise of proprietor Eugene Melnyk.
Andlauer and his group are on the cusp of buying 90 per cent of the membership from Melnyk’s grownup daughters, who’re retaining 10 per cent.
The Senators haven’t made the playoffs since 2017 when the they fell a aim brief within the Eastern Conference last, however have a young core led by captain Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot that seems poised to interrupt by.
Daly mentioned getting the sale finalized has been sophisticated by the variety of buyers below the Andlauer umbrella.
The group consists of Farm Boy grocery retailer co-CEO Jeff York and the Malhotra household, house owners of Ottawa real-estate improvement large Claridge Homes.
“There’s lot of people involved,” Daly mentioned. “It’s the financial due diligence you need to do, the background checks you need to do on all those partners.”
Andlauer can also be the founder and chief government officer of Andlauer Healthcare Group, which owns health-care provide chain corporations, and the founding father of Toronto-based service provider financial institution Bulldog Capital Partners.
“There are last-minute issues that need to be resolved all the time,” Daly continued of the sale course of. “There’s the issue of negotiating what representations and warranties are being made, who’s on the hook for certain things.
“Each transaction’s different, but I would put this in a ‘fairly complicated’ bucket.”
World Cup SHIFT
Daly mentioned the league and NHL Players’ Association are actually taking a look at a scaled-back World Cup for 2025.
He mentioned the timeline for a conventional match — final held in 2016 — is simply too tight, particularly contemplating Russia’s ongoing battle in Ukraine.
“It’s not gonna be a typical World Cup tournament,” he mentioned. “We’re focused on an alternative type of tournament that leverages the unique internationality of our sport.
“That’s the process we’re in now, working with the players’ association, really to design something that we can plug into February 2025.”
Daly was tight-lipped when requested concerning the format.
“That’s where I’m being ambiguous intentionally,” he mentioned. “I can’t tell you exactly some of the things we have in mind, but it wouldn’t be eight teams playing over a 16-day time period.
“It’s going to be probably something different.”
OLYMPIC HOPES
Daly mentioned the NHL continues to barter with the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation concerning participation on the 2026 Games in Italy.
The deputy commissioner added the standard speaking factors are being mentioned, particularly the cost of insurance coverage and constitution air journey.
“I think the only way this works for 170 NHL players, who obviously are going to be utilizing charters flying to Italy and then fly him home when the tournament’s over,” he mentioned.
“Those are costs that historically have been picked up by the IOC/IIHF/local organizing committees. The negotiation is really, ‘How do you cover those costs? Who’s responsible for them? Is there some risk-shifting that goes on?’”
The NHL and the gamers’ affiliation agreed within the present collective bargaining settlement to go to the Winter Games so long as an settlement may very well be reached with worldwide companions.
The league skipped the 2018 Olympics earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic derailed plans in 2022.
The hope is the NHL can get again on a two-year cycle that may see a World Cup in 2028 and participation on the 2030 Olympics. Hockey hasn’t held a best-on-best match for the reason that 2014 Games.
Daly mentioned he hopes to have a choice earlier than the calendar flips to 2024.
“We’ve had meetings with the IOC and the IIHF,” he mentioned. “We’ve formed working groups with representation both on the NHL and the NHLPA with IOC representatives and IIHF representatives to work through those issues and tackle them.
“And hopefully come to a successful resolution.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Sept. 12, 2023.
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Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
