The Senators' inability to meet Daniel Alfredsson's contract demands while also granting his request to add talent to the roster is a key reason the former captain is now a member of the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk revealed Friday. Melnyk said the club wouldn't have been able to afford a player the calibre of Bobby Ryan - the Anaheim Ducks' star forward the team dealt for hours after learning Alfredsson would sign elsewhere - and meet the numbers put forward by Alfredsson's camp. "You can't have it both ways and say, 'Well I want this for me, but I want you to do this with me and the team.' It's 'which one do you want?'" Melnyk says he eventually told GM Bryan Murray: "We won't be able to spend that kind of money, so don't promise that we're going to bring anybody else in other than filling a hole that was there."