HIGHLIGHTS
- Claude Giroux re-signed with Ottawa on a 1-year deal worth $2M base salary
- The 37-year-old veteran could earn up to $4.75M with performance bonuses
- Read below for full contract details and what this means for the Senators
The Ottawa Senators just got their veteran leader back on the cheap.
Claude Giroux inked a one-year deal to stay in the nation’s capital, and he left serious money on the table to do so. The 37-year-old alternate captain agreed to just $2 million in base salary, though he can earn up to $4.75 million with bonuses.
TSN’s Chris Johnston broke the news Sunday afternoon, with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic providing the nitty-gritty details.
“One year deal for Giroux, $2M base salary plus $750k in games played bonuses, $250k in making the playoffs, and another $1.75M in playoff progress round by round bonuses,” LeBrun reported. “Bottom line, Giroux took less to stay in Ottawa, where he didn’t want to leave.”
Contract Breakdown:
The deal’s structured perfectly for a team looking to compete. Giroux gets $250K for hitting 20, 30, and 60 games played. Another quarter-million comes his way if Ottawa makes the playoffs and he suits up for 50 games.
Then it gets juicy. The Sens win Round 1? That’s $500K. Round 2 brings another $250K. Conference Finals victory? Half a million more. And if Ottawa hoists Lord Stanley’s Cup, Giroux pockets another $500K.
Talk about betting on yourself.
What This Means for Ottawa
This is highway robbery for Steve Staios and the Senators. Giroux posted 50 points last season and brought the kind of veteran presence you can’t quantify. Coming off a three-year deal that paid him $6.5 million annually, taking $2 million base is practically charity work.
“Claude brings veteran leadership and a competitive edge to our group and has been a consistent presence on and off the ice,” Staios said in Sunday’s announcement. “We are excited to bring him back next season.”
The Senators made their first playoff appearance since 2017 last spring. Giroux was instrumental in that run, collecting five points in six playoff games.
“This year was the most fun I’ve had in a few years, just coming to the rink was a lot of fun,” Giroux said back in May. “And that locker room, a pretty tight locker room, so a lot of good things.”
With nearly $9 million in cap space remaining, Ottawa can now chase scoring help on July 1. Names like Mikael Granlund and Andrei Kuzmenko should be on their radar.
The Sens won’t be playing the offer sheet game, though. They forfeited their 2026 first-rounder due to that botched 2021 trade deadline deal.
But who cares about offer sheets when your veteran leader takes a hometown discount like this? Giroux’s betting on this young core, and after 193 points in 245 games as a Senator, he’s earned the right to chase a Cup in Ottawa.
The Eastern Conference is wide open. And the Senators just kept a key piece for pennies on the dollar.
