Senators' busy summer prompts 'significant increase' in season-ticket sales

An offseason full of big-ticket acquisitions has Ottawa Senators fans pumped for the 2022-23 campaign.

"I can tell you that the season-ticket membership is the highest it's been in years," Senators president Anthony LeBlanc told Sportsnet's Wayne Scanlan. "We've seen a significant, significant increase - and it all started, really, around the time when (general manager) Pierre (Dorion) started making some trades."

The Senators had approximately 5,000 season-ticket holders in 2021-22, according to Scanlan, which is believed to be the fewest in franchise history. Ottawa averaged a league-worst 9,000 fans per home game last season, but the coronavirus pandemic and health restrictions within Canada's capital heavily impacted attendance.

Ottawa made headlines several times this offseason, acquiring sniper Alex DeBrincat at the draft before adding veteran forward Claude Giroux and goaltender Cam Talbot in the following weeks.

The club also inked core forward Josh Norris to an eight-year extension and made notable progress on a new arena deal in downtown Ottawa.

Senators forward Tim Stutzle said last week that "expectations are high" within the dressing room after a busy summer as the team looks to snap a playoff drought dating back to 2017.

Ottawa finished seventh in the Atlantic Division with a 33-42-7 record last season.