Editing Ottawa Senators (section)

===Early years (1992–1996)===
The new team hired former NHL player [[Mel Bridgman]], who had no previous NHL management experience, as its first [[General manager#Sports teams|general manager]] in 1992.<ref>{{cite news |work=Ottawa Citizen |title=HOCKEY: Bridgman at the helm; Senators plot NHL course with rookie general manager |last=Mayoh |first=Rick |date=August 31, 1991 |page=G1}}</ref> Ottawa signed former Boston head coach [[Rick Bowness]]. The new Senators were placed in the Adams Division of the Wales Conference and played their first game on October 8, 1992, in the [[Ottawa Civic Centre]] against the [[Montreal Canadiens]] with much pre-game spectacle.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=October 9, 1992|first=Wayne |last=Scanlan|pages=A1|title=Maybe Rome was built in a day; Senators in stunning 5–3 debut victory over Habs; 10,449 fans went wild and it was magical}}</ref> The Senators defeated the Canadiens 5–3 in one of the few highlights that season. Following the initial excitement of the opening night victory, the club floundered badly. Eventually, it tied the [[San Jose Sharks]] for the worst record in the league, winning only 10 games with 70 losses and four ties for 24 points, three points better than the NHL record for futility.<ref>{{cite web |website=nhl.com |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/seven-team-records-likely-to-stand-test-of-time/c-641433 |title=Seven team records likely to stand test of time |first=John |last=Kreiser |date=September 14, 2012 |accessdate=March 30, 2022 |archive-date=March 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330130800/https://www.nhl.com/news/seven-team-records-likely-to-stand-test-of-time/c-641433 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Senators had aimed low and considered the 1992–93 season a small success, as Firestone had set a goal for the season of not setting a new NHL record for fewest points in a season.<ref name="MacGregor1993book">MacGregor 1993, p.250</ref> The long-term plan was to finish low in the standings for its first few years to secure high draft picks and eventually contend for the Stanley Cup.<ref name="MacGregor1993book"/>

[[File:Senators civic centre.jpg|alt=men on skates playing ice hockey in an arena |thumb|The Senators played their home games at the [[Ottawa Civic Centre]] from 1992 to 1996.]]
Terrace needed a partner to make the final franchise payment to the NHL. Firestone sold 50% of Terrace to [[Rod Bryden]], a technology executive and entrepreneur. A limited partnership was set up to own the hockey team and a new company, Palladium Corp., which was charged with building the new arena. The partnership included local high-tech executives and singer [[Paul Anka]], who was born in Ottawa.<ref>{{cite news |title=OTTAWA SENATORS; Names behind money revealed |last=May |first=Kathryn |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |date=February 27, 1992 |page=B1}}</ref> Bryden would become the sole owner of Terrace and majority owner of the Senators in August 1993, buying out Firestone.<ref name="MacGregor1993-cit">{{cite news |title=Exit the Dreamer; Why the Ottawa Senators' disillusioned founder sold out |last=MacGregor |first=Roy |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |date=August 18, 1993 |page=A1}}</ref>

Bridgman was fired after one season and team president Randy Sexton took over the general manager duties. The strategy of aiming low and securing a high draft position did not change. The Senators finished last overall for the next three seasons. For the 1993–94 season, the team now played in the Eastern Conference's Northeast Division. Although 1993 first overall draft choice [[Alexandre Daigle]] wound up being one of the greatest draft busts in NHL history, they chose [[Radek Bonk]] in 1994, [[Bryan Berard]] (traded for [[Wade Redden]]) in 1995, [[Chris Phillips]] in 1996 and [[Marián Hossa|Marian Hossa]] in 1997, all of whom would become solid NHL players and formed a strong core of players in years to come. [[Alexei Yashin]], the team's first-ever draft selection from 1992, emerged as one of the NHL's brightest young stars. The team traded many of their better veteran players of the era, including 1992–93 leading scorer [[Norm Maciver]] and fan favourites [[Mike Peluso (ice hockey, born 1965)|Mike Peluso]] and [[Bob Kudelski]] in an effort to stockpile prospects and draft picks.<ref>{{cite news |last=Duhatschek |first=Eric |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |date=March 9, 2001 |title=Rent-a-player moves don't guarantee success}}</ref><ref name="casey-1">{{cite news |title=A decade of comings and goings: (Part 1): A guide to Senators, past and present, and what they're doing today: with files from Ken Warren |first=Tom |last=Casey |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |location=Ottawa, Ont. |date=October 4, 2001 |page=E3}}</ref><ref name="casey-2">{{cite news |title=A decade of comings and goings: (Part 2) |first=Tom |last=Casey |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |location=Ottawa, Ont. |date=October 4, 2001 |page=E3}}</ref>

As the [[1995–96 NHL season|1995–96 season]] began, star centre Alexei Yashin refused to honour his contract and did not play. In December, after three straight last-place finishes and a team which was ridiculed throughout the league, fans began to grow restless waiting for the team's long-term plan to yield results, and arena attendance began to decline. Rick Bowness was fired in late 1995 and was replaced by the [[Prince Edward Island Senators]]' head coach [[Dave Allison]]. Allison would fare no better than his predecessor, and the team would stumble to a 2–22–3 record under him. Sexton himself was fired and replaced by [[Pierre Gauthier]], the former assistant general manager of the [[Anaheim Ducks|Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]] team.<ref>{{Cite news |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |title=Gauthier takes over Senators' helm | date=December 12, 1995 |first=Ken |last=Warren |pages=C2}}</ref> Before the end of January 1996, Gauthier had resolved the team's most pressing issues by settling star player Alexei Yashin's contract dispute, and hiring the highly regarded [[Jacques Martin (ice hockey)|Jacques Martin]] as head coach.<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|first=Roy |last=MacGregor |title=Promise and pain at the Palladium: Finally, Senators find the spark; Fans love new coach and his new ways |date=January 25, 1996|pages=A1}}</ref> While Ottawa finished last-overall once again, the season ended with renewed optimism, due in part to the upgraded management and coaching, and also to the emergence of an unheralded rookie from Sweden named [[Daniel Alfredsson]], who would win the [[Calder Memorial Trophy]] as NHL Rookie of the Year in 1996.{{sfn|Garrioch|1998|p=227}}