Tim Stützle made it clear he wasn’t bothered by Daniel Alfredsson leaving Ottawa - he was bothered by where Alfredsson landed.
When the Maple Leafs hired the former Senators captain and assistant coach this summer, it sent an unmistakable jolt through the Battle of Ontario. Ottawa didn’t just lose a familiar face. It watched one of its most important franchise figures cross over to the other side of the rivalry.
Stützle, one of Ottawa’s cornerstone players, said he had a strong relationship with Alfredsson and plenty of respect for him. Speaking to The Hockey News' David Alter during the NHL's European Tour, he laid out exactly how he felt about the move:
Me and Alfie, I think we always had a really good relationship. Obviously, I have tons of respect for him as a player, but also as a person.
In what he says, it's always what he thinks. It doesn't matter if you like it or not.
I respect his decision, but I also told him any team but Toronto and Montreal, I would accept it way more.
That’s the part that clearly stuck. Stützle wasn’t asking Alfredsson to stop coaching, and he didn’t even single out Toronto alone.
Montreal was on the list too. But for an Ottawa star, seeing “Alfie” join one of the Senators’ biggest rivals was still a tough one to swallow.
The timing matters, too. With Brady Tkachuk out of town, more of the burden in Ottawa now falls on Stützle’s shoulders. So when a figure as closely tied to the Senators’ identity heads to Toronto, it naturally hits a little harder inside that room.
Alfredsson’s arrival in Toronto also comes with some hockey substance behind it. He spent last season working with Ottawa’s young forwards and helping oversee a power play that finished eighth in the NHL. The Maple Leafs are hoping he can help a unit that ranked 15th.
There’s no way around the symbolism here, though. Alfredsson spent years as one of the faces of the rivalry, and for much of that time he was a familiar thorn in the side of the Maple Leafs and Mats Sundin. Now the two Swedes are on the same side, and that alone marks a major shift.
For Ottawa, it’s more than just a coaching departure. It’s the loss of a player and mentor who helped shape the next wave of Senators talent, and one who now returns to the rivalry in a very different role.
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