NHL Rumors: Ryan Reynolds Group Preparing Ottawa Senators Bid in Excess of $1B

A group led by superstar actor Ryan Reynolds is reportedly preparing a bid of more than $1 billion in an effort to purchase the NHL's Ottawa Senators.

According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun (h/t TSN), Reynolds is partnering with the Remington Group, which is a real estate development company based in Ontario.

The 46-year-old Reynolds was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and he joined the ranks as a professional sports franchise owner in 2021 when he and fellow actor Rob McElhenney purchased Welsh soccer team Wrexham AFC.

Wrexham has already achieved great success under Reynolds' ownership, as the club earned promotion from the National League to the English Football League last week.

The Senators, who have been owned by the Melnyk family since 2003, were made available for sale after Eugene Melnyk's death in March 2022.

Per Garrioch, final bids for the franchise are due by May 15.

TSN reported that Remington Group wants a high-profile face as part of the ownership group, which is where Reynolds comes in. It also wants to build a new arena for the Senators in downtown Ottawa.

Should Remington Group and Reynolds purchase the Senators, Reynolds reportedly plans to enlist a production company to create a docu-series about the purchase and the construction of the new arena in the same vein as the Welcome to Wrexham series focused on Reynolds' purchase of Wrexham.

If the figure of $1 billion is true for the Remington Group and Reynolds bid, it would set a new record for the largest franchise sale in NHL history, which is currently owned by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were purchased by Fenway Sports Group for $900 million in 2021.

The Senators joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1992, and since then, they have reached the playoffs 16 times in 30 seasons.

While Ottawa has yet to win a Stanley Cup, it reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first and only time in 2007.

The Senators reached the playoffs in 11 straight seasons from 1996 through 2008, but they have missed the playoffs in each of the past six seasons, which is the longest drought in team history.

Ottawa is seemingly a team on the rise, though, as it went from 73 points in 2021-22 to 86 points this season, just six points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

With Brady Tkachuk, Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stützle and Jakob Chychrun leading the way, the Sens could be poised to return to the playoffs as soon as next season.