The man who captained the Ottawa Senators for 13 seasons and brought the franchise to its only Stanley Cup Final appearance in the modern era is back with the team.
Daniel Alfredsson was on the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre Friday during practice and the team announced later he’ll be working with the coaching staff and players in an “undefined” role, according to a news release issued Friday.
“He’ll operate somewhere between coaching and player development both on and off the ice and we will see how the role evolves,” the release said.
Welcome back 11 🐐<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoSensGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#GoSensGo</a> <a href=”https://t.co/dO2avNEPfm”>pic.twitter.com/dO2avNEPfm</a>
—@Senators
After practice, Alfredsson told reporters that president of hockey operations Steve Staios reached out to him to see if he was interested in a job with the team.
“Obviously I’m super excited and hoping I can help out and contribute to the team,” Alfredsson told reporters.
“I’m not going to get the adrenaline I did as a player, but this is the next best thing and you know, sharing my experiences, with them on the ice and off the ice and I think that’s where I can contribute the most. And I think that will be the most fun for me as well.”
Current captain Brady Tkachuk said having someone of Alfredsson’s stature around the team can only be positive.
“I think for the whole group it’s going to be great just to have a guy like that — his career and what he’s done for the city — to be able to learn from that,” he said.
Alfredsson — a Hockey Hall of Famer and the franchise leader in goals, assists, points and a host of other statistics — had a stint as the team’s senior adviser of hockey operations but left that position in July 2017 after two years in the role.
Chirs Phillips is the only person to have played more games for the franchise.
Alfredsson’s No. 11 jersey was retired in December 2016.
Spending most of his professional career with the Senators, Alfredsson captained the team from 1999 to 2013 before joining the Detroit Red Wings for his final season.
He signed a one-day contract with the Sens to retire a Senator before taking a position within the Sens organization as a senior adviser.
The Senators host the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday in the first home game of the 2023-2024 season.