Alfredsson appears to be trying to get Sens ball rolling

Daniel Alfredsson knew what he was doing.

The former Senators captain is too smart, too media savvy to say something to a journalist he doesn’t want out there.

Stating/asking afterwards that the comment be kept “off the record” was a decoy. He wanted to get the ball rolling without looking like he kicked it.

Alfredsson has played the Captain Obvious role before — answering “probably not” when asked if the Senators would be able to win three in a row after suffering a 7-3 loss to the Penguins in the 2013 playoffs — and that’s what he was doing again when he told former Postmedia columnist Sue Sherring that both he and Ottawa mayor Jim Watson hope the Senators get a new owner.

Of course they do. So do many others.

But while both care about the team, both might also have personal agendas.

Watson wants to get LeBreton Flats done. It’s his baby, and it’s campaign time. He likes the chances of plans going forward a lot better with some high rollers buying the team from Eugene Melnyk.

Presumably, they’d want to make a big splash or three, to win over the fan base.

One way of doing that would be to get the i’s dotted and t’s crossed on a new and extravagant downtown home for the Senators. That has to get done soon.

Another popular move would be to get Alfredsson involved in their group.

And yet another would be to sign Erik Karlsson.

Alfredsson knows the only way his good friend and protege remains in the nation’s capital is with a new owner. Melnyk’s offer on a contract extension will be presented to Karlsson in five weeks. It’s expected to be turned down.

And at that point, the Senators will start listening to trade offers for their current captain.

Time is a ticking, and Alfredsson knows it.