LeBlanc back in town as president of business operations
Ottawa native brings experience into his role as president of business operations
Anthony LeBlanc is coming home.
Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk announced Monday that he chose LeBlanc, the former Arizona Coyotes president, to be his team’s new president of business operations.
LeBlanc, a co-owner of the Coyotes from 2009-17 before the team was sold to Andrew Barroway, is also spearheading, along with Schooners Sports and Entertainment, a bid to get the Canadian Football League to expand to Halifax.
After serving as Arizona’s chief executive officer for the eight seasons he was with the Coyotes, LeBlanc brings the business experience the Senators need at this level. Like everybody else, the Senators are waiting to see if they’ll suit up for the final 11 games of the regular season or whether the NHL will go straight to the playoffs once the threat of the novel coronavirus has passed and the league can resume play.
The NHL went on pause March 12 because of COVID-19 and there isn’t any firm plan yet on when the league will start up again. When it does, LeBlanc will be ready to get going.
“I am thrilled to be appointed to the position of president of business operations with the Senators,” LeBlanc said in a statement. “Having been a diehard Senators fan since (Ottawa) rejoined the league, this opportunity is truly an honour.
“I look forward to working closely with the entire staff as we prepare for an exciting chapter in the history of the Senators. I am confident that my experience in the NHL, as well as my sales and marketing background in the technology sector, will be put to good use here in the national capital region.”
Leblanc makes his home in the Glebe neighbourhood and was a season-ticket holder when the Senators played out of the old Ottawa Civic Centre at Lansdowne Park from 1992-1996 before they moved to the Canadian
Tire Centre midway through their fourth season in the league.
“We welcome Anthony back to the NHL, and to Ottawa,” Melnyk said. “No doubt he will have a positive impact with our fans, our sponsors and our staff.”
LeBlanc had Senators season tickets in the club section near the penalty box before he moved to Arizona and worked with the NHL to play a big role to keep the Coyotes in Glendale when many doubted the future of the franchise in the desert. He has close ties with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly, but mostly LeBlanc understands the day-today operations of a franchise.
Immediately after it was confirmed LeBlanc was named to the post, he and Melnyk took part in Bettman and Daly’s bi-weekly conference call with the league’s 31 owners and executives from each team on what actions the league is taking during this pause.
Essentially, LeBlanc will replace chief executive officer Jim Little, who was fired on March 4 after less than two months on the job in Ottawa. A former executive with RIM/BlackBerry, LeBlanc left his post as the head of global sales in 2008.
LeBlanc has a big job ahead of him to get the Senators back on track and get people back in the seats at Canadian Tire Centre. Unlike his predecessor, LeBlanc is ahead of the game in that he has the experience of being in an NHL team’s office day-to-day and has a knowledge of the marketplace. So, he knows what needs to be done here to try to get sponsors on board and sell tickets.
With four home games left on the schedule when the NHL shut down because of COVID-19, the Senators were ranked last in the 31-team league in average attendance with 12,618 for 37 games. The Senators are currently in the midst of a rebuild under general manager Pierre Dorion, which is centred around bringing in Ottawa’s top prospects over the course of the next couple of seasons and adding high-end draft picks.
The Senators have three picks in the first round of this year’s NHL draft, seven in the first three rounds and 13 in total. Not only do the Senators have the second-best odds of winning the draft lottery at 13.5 per cent, they also own San Jose Sharks’ firstround pick which carries odds of 11.5 per cent and the belief is this is a strong draft at the top end.
The club is hopeful they’ll be build able to build on the excitement of this year’s draft, along with the success of prospects such as Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, Alex Formenton, Logan Brown, Erik Brannstrom, Marcus Hogberg, Filip Gustavsson and Joey Daccord in Belleville, over the course of the next couple of seasons under coach D.J. Smith.
Bringing LeBlanc on board Monday, the Senators hope is he will point them in the right direction off the ice.