The Ottawa Senators are the only NHL team Chris Neil knows yet the two sides are parting ways after 15 seasons.
According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, the pending unrestricted free agent was told he will not be re-signed by the team after meeting with Sens general manger Pierre Dorion and assistant GM Randy Lee.
“It went well. They had a really good talk by all accounts,” Neil’s agent Todd Reynolds said. “He’s accepted it. It’s a been a great ride there. He’s had a lot of years. There’s certainly no animosity, bitterness or anything like that. He’s great with it.”
Neil was selected in the sixth round (161st overall) in the 1998 NHL Draft and ended up playing 1,026 regular-season games plus 95 playoff games in a Sens uniform.
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The 37-year-old only suited up for 53 games in 2016-17, averaging 07:34 in ice-time.
“I’m no different than anybody else. I want to be in the lineup, contributing and helping out. But I look back on when I first came into the league, and there were older guys who were sitting out. It’s just the way the clock goes,” Neil told Sportsnet’s Dan Robson in May. “I’ve been fortunate and blessed to have been part of it for so long. And to have played for so long. I don’t take anything for granted.”
The veteran enforcer finishes his tenure in Ottawa with 112 goals, 138 assists and a franchise record 2,522 penalty minutes in 1,026 regular-season games plus an additional 19 points and 204 PIMs in 95 post-season contests.
Reynolds added that this doesn’t necessarily mean Neil’s NHL career is over just yet.
“He could do the Shawn Thornton thing this year, in and out of the lineup, play a few minutes here and there, but I almost get sense that he would rather not play than do that,” Reynolds said. “If that’s all that’s out there for him then maybe it’s time to turn the page but if somebody says, ‘Hey, Chris Neil we’d love you for a year, here’s your role, go out there and compete and stir the pot,’ then he and [his wife] would pick up and move a for year.
“It would probably be an adventure, something new and exciting.”
