Earlier this off-season, former Ottawa Senator Alex Burrows said he lamented not doing more in the locker room during the team's dismal 2017-18 campaign.

Defenceman Mark Borowiecki said Monday he doesn't plan on making that same mistake this year.

“There are certain things we can actively try and change as a group,” Borowiecki told the Ottawa Citizen. “If we are just going to sit here passively and say, ‘We need the culture to change,’ well, the culture doesn’t just change. It changes because we have a group of guys that rally together and say, ‘This is the way it’s going to be done,’ that this is how we expect them to come in and handle their off-ice issues.

“It’s time for us as a somewhat veteran leadership group to come together and do that.”

The Senators’ 2017-18 season was marred by trade rumours surrounding top players, including captain Erik Karlsson, and reports of spats between players and ownership. After the season, it was revealed Karlsson's wife, Melinda, had filed a peace bond against forward Mike Hoffman's girlfriend, alleging cyber bullying.

Hoffman was traded shortly after news of the peace bond became public and rumours continue to swirl around Karlsson as he enters the final season of his contract.

“I have been around long enough now to know what is going on and how it is in the room,” forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau told the Citizen. “We have to stick together. We lost some players, some good friends, but, after the season we had, it’s good to have some new players, some fresh blood.”

Borowiecki is looking for players beyond the team's captain to step up and become leaders to help the Senators try to rebound from their worst season in 20 years.

“It’s up to us as players to take ownership of this,” Borowiecki said. “I’m not passing the puck to anyone here and saying people need to step in and step up. That’s on me. It’s on [Mark Stone, Pageau, Cody Ceci and Matt Duchene – the players who skated with Borowiecki on Monday]. It’s on all of us who want to be a core part of this team. It’s time for us to take this team by the horns here.

“Right now, [Karlsson] is part of this team. And if he isn’t going forward — again, that’s the nature of pro sports — it’s up to the guys who remain here to rally together and make sure we get this ship going in the right direction.”