Mike Hoffman isn’t known for his dialogue, but he got off a solid pre-emptive strike when he was asked how Senators fans might react to his return to Ottawa on Monday with the Florida Panthers.
"I did pretty well for a fifth-round draft pick, so they should be pretty happy," Hoffman said, following the Panthers game-day skate at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Good point by the guy they call ‘Hoff.’ But then, maybe we should have expected that from a player riding a 15-game point streak, a Panthers franchise record. In that span from Oct. 13-Nov. 17, Hoffman has eight goals and 10 assists, numbers that mirror his season totals.
Players return to their former cities all the time, but not many come back in the circumstances confronting the 28-year-old Hoffman.
In June, Hoffman and his fiancée Monika Caryk were caught up in a swirl of accusations involving then-teammate Erik Karlsson and his wife, Melinda. The Karlssons accused Caryk of harassing them online, including after Melinda gave birth to a stillborn child. The story made international headlines and remains unresolved.
Just seven weeks ago, an Ontario judge ruled that Melinda Karlsson does not have to turn over evidence that led her to believe Caryk was behind the online harassment (which included a comment that someone should "take out" Karlsson’s legs to end his career).
To date, no charges have been laid against Caryk, who vehemently denies the allegations.
Regardless, the situation arose after a horrendous 2017-18 season by the Senators and resulted in a quick trade of Hoffman to the San Jose Sharks. The Senators sent Hoffman, defence prospect Cody Donaghey and a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Sharks for veteran forward Mikkel Boedker, defensive prospect Julius Bergman and a 2020 sixth-round pick. San Jose promptly flipped Hoffman to Florida along with a seventh-round pick for a second-, fourth- and fifth-round pick.
So instead of the Senators seeing Hoffman a couple of times per season, and only once in Ottawa, he lands in the good old Atlantic Division.
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At the time of the trade, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion made a point of saying his "dressing room was broken" and Hoffman had to go.
That sounds like Hoffman was blamed for the mess, but it should be noted that Karlsson was still captain of the Senators at the time, and Ottawa management was trying to have the captain’s back – at least until Karlsson himself was traded to San Jose on the first day of training camp.
"You have to kind of look at it in the bigger picture," Hoffman says today, reflecting on his trade from Ottawa. "People sometimes need reasons why they get rid of some players. I’m not going to say an excuse, but if you go around and ask anyone in that locker room if I was a problem I think you’ll be able to find the answer yourself."
Certainly on this day, there wasn’t heard a discouraging word of No. 68, a player who in 2017 scored a playoff goal off a soaring Karlsson pass that will go down as one of the all-time Senators highlight goals.
"I played with Hoff I think for seven years, in the minors and the NHL," said veteran defenceman Mark Borowiecki. "I always got along with him. I never had any issue with Hoff. We chatted a bit in Florida (Nov. 11) and I’m sure I will again tonight."
Wearing a dark coat and black toque, Hoffman was as relaxed as we’ve seen him, friendly in a hallway scrum, comfortable in a rink so familiar, "it doesn’t even feel like a road game."
Head coach Bob Boughner said he’s been delighted by Hoffman’s play and presence, and why wouldn’t he be, considering he’s tied with linemate Evgeni Dadnonov for the team lead in points.
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Boughner was asked if he thought Hoffman would be nervous before the game.
"I don’t know, he’s a pretty cool cat," Boughner said. "He doesn’t get too high or low, he’s a steady guy, he’s been great for us since he’s come down there. He’s having some individual success and moving him up to that big line was the right thing to do."
The big line includes centre Aleksander Barkov, of course.
Boughner lauded Hoffman for helping the power play, being a good teammate, and even for his defensive play. (Senators fan reaction: OK, now he’s gone too far!) Oddly, the Senators are having no problems scoring minus Hoffman and Karlsson, and their power play is much improved over last season. At the time of this meeting, Ottawa’s power play ranked eighth overall (25.4 per cent) to Florida’s 10th (23.6 per cent)
If Boughner ever worried he was inheriting a problem player, it was dispelled quickly, he says. A week after the trade, he travelled to Waterloo, Ont., to have a breakfast meeting with Hoffman, learn all he could about him.
"You never know what to think when you hear things, but he’s been unbelievable," Boughner says. "Everything he’s said, he’s held true to – he’s been a team guy as a player, he’s having a lot of fun and the guys love having him."
Ottawa’s 130th pick in the 2009 draft, the slender six-foot, 180-pound Hoffman reached the 20-goal plateau four times in four-plus years with the Senators. His most productive season was in 2016-17. Though limited to 74 games due to injury, he scored 26 goals and had 61 points, before going on to 11 playoff points, including that exquisite breakaway goal versus Boston off the Karlsson Hail Mary pass.
For Ottawa fans and media, the return of Hoffman was a nice little warmup.
Expect a full-on zoo when Karlsson makes his first return to Ottawa with San Jose on Dec. 1.
