Huge advantage for Ryan Reynolds in Senators’ sale

The NHL has made it clear it wants movie star Ryan Reynolds on board. According to Post Media’s Bruce Garrioch, the league has told anybody interested in the Senators that Reynolds should play a role.

“League sources confirmed to this newspaper Friday that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly were making it clear to anybody bidding to buy the Ottawa Senators that the head office in New York wanted Reynolds to be a minority partner,” writes Garrioch.

Earlier in November, Anna and Olivia Melnyk, daughters of former long-time owner Eugene Melnyk who passed away in March of 2022, announced they were looking to cash out and sell the franchise to someone else, while staying minority owners. Days after, Reynolds expressed his interest in the franchise and attended a game, getting a standing ovation from the home fans.

Reynolds has reportedly been speaking to other interested parties as he seeks to form a partnership that will allow him to become an owner of the Senators, but many other suitors have been reportedly inquiring about the franchise, like Toronto businessman Michael Andlauer, Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel and a mystery group mentioned by Post Media.

Garrioch reports, to the delight of the NHL, that Reynolds “has spent the past three weeks interviewing potential bidders to get a feel for where they stand on his potential involvement.”

The league advices the movie star to hold off on choosing a partnership. “Instead, the NHL’s office wants to see who is going to buy the team and then have them bring Reynolds into the mix,” explains Garrioch.

“(Having Reynolds involved) has more to do with of raising the profile of the NHL than just the Senators,” an NHL source said Friday. “Professional hockey has a lot of room to grow, and that’s clearly the league’s priority.”

It looks like Reynolds has a great shot at getting a piece of the Senators!

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