Fanatics now begins a ten-year deal as the new official outfitter of the NHL's on-ice uniforms.

The Ottawa Senators jerseys for next season have been released, and as expected, the changes are... subtle. 

Fanatics and the NHL released images of the Authentic Pro NHL on-ice uniforms for all 32 NHL teams, including the Senators. The black Sens jersey includes "new shoulder fabric" that "furnishes a sleeker look" and also has a new "NHL holographic shield on the front neck."

We'll have to take their word for it.

While the new jerseys won't exactly have fans scrambling to discard their old ones, today's release does usher in a new fashion arrangement for the NHL and allows fans to buy the same jerseys their heroes wear. 

"I couldn’t be prouder to unveil the first-ever Fanatics branded NHL uniforms," Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said in a statement. "These jerseys were meticulously crafted in lockstep with NHL players, the NHLPA, equipment managers, teams and the NHL.

"We’re excited to debut the jersey we’ve developed that will not only be worn by the best hockey players in the world but also, for the first time in a decade, these same jerseys can be purchased by the NHL’s passionate fans as well.”

The jerseys will be manufactured by SP Apparel, the same company that has provided the NHL's on-ice uniforms for nearly 50 years. 

Overall, it looks like Fanatics is easing into the deal slowly, with only a few serious changes across the league. 

For one, the Los Angeles Kings are expected to go retro full-time when they unveil their jerseys later in the day on Wednesday, likely to make every hockey fan over 40 feel nostalgic. It's believed they'll return to the look they wore in the late 1980s after Wayne Gretkzy was traded there from Edmonton. 

The logo was officially reintroduced in a permanent team rebrand last week, or as permanent as these things ever are.

Expect Fanatics to experiment with different new looks and third jerseys in the coming seasons. Dabbling in foreshadowing, Sens owner Michael Andlauer has already expressed a fondness for red jerseys, so that will likely be the next colour choice for a future third.

But the Senators returned to their original logo and uniforms just three years ago, and most fans seemed to love it. So, while they might add a stripe or mess with a shoulder patch here and there, expect them to generally roll with the two primary jerseys they have for the foreseeable future.