The Ottawa Senators are on a path to contend for the Stanley Cup, owner Eugene Melnyk said.
"We have turned the corner," Melnyk said in remarks published in the Ottawa Sun on Sunday. "We just now need to execute on what we have. This is the team, with what we have right now, I believe can win a Stanley Cup already, and that's without adding some veterans, which we plan to do.
"We'll be a team that's active at the trade deadline and not as sellers, but as buyers, just like we used to be."
The Senators acquired goalie Matt Murray, forwards Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Galchenyuk, and defenseman Erik Gudbranson this offseason to help grow a young core led by 21-year-old forward Brady Tkachuk (89 points; 43 goals, 46 assists in 142 NHL games) and 23-year-old defenseman Thomas Chabot (119 points; 29 goals, 90 assists in 205 games).