Bobby Ryan has had a roller-coaster ride of appreciation in Ottawa and the NHL’s trade deadline was the latest drop.
From his arrival in Canada’s capital, he was adored. He tweeted about how he was “Coming in Hot” and fans were very excited. He was never able to reach the 30-goal mark that he hit in every full season with the Ducks and eventually, in 2016-17, his production hit an all-time low. With a big contract, fans started getting on him and he actually deleted his Twitter account.
Then, the playoffs.
He was an early playoff hero for the Sens who ended up coming a goal away from the Stanley Cup Final and he seemed to be back in the fans’ good graces. Then, the Sens fell apart this season and he was thrown into trade speculation all through February. Apparently they went beyond rumours, because as Ryan said to the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, he thought he was gone.
To think that he and Karlsson fully thought they were traded, power dynamics could have shifted in the league in an instant. One possibility that was discussed that could have taken both Karlsson and Ryan would have been the Vegas Golden Knights, but it’s tough to say who this deal could have been with.
Either way, Senators fans were probably happy to see their stars remain with the team for now.
