- Drake Batherson is seeking the maximum eight-year term on his next contract
- Ottawa has until Sept. 15 to give him one before the new CBA drops the ceiling to seven years
- Read below for the comparables driving his ask and what that number does to Ottawa’s payroll
Drake Batherson wants the biggest contract the current rules still allow.
The Ottawa winger is pushing for the maximum eight years on his next deal, and there are fewer than 30 days left to get it done. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen reported Monday that a gap remains between Batherson and the Senators with a Sept. 15 deadline sitting on top of both sides.
That date is a calendar problem, not a negotiating one. The NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement kicks in Sept. 16, and it cuts the maximum term to seven years for a player re-signing with his own club and six for anyone switching teams. Miss the window and the eight-year deal Batherson wants stops existing.
League sources say the two sides still aren’t close, and the money is the holdup.
His camp is pointing at Alex Tuch and Adrian Kempe. Tuch landed eight years and $84 million from Washington this summer in a sign-and-trade with Buffalo, and Kempe signed for eight years and $85 million to stay in Los Angeles last November. Both cleared $10 million a season.
Ottawa’s issue is what that price does to the rest of the room. Tim Stutzle tops the roster at $8.35 million, with Linus Ullmark at $8.25 million and Jake Sanderson at $8.05 million. Anything in the $10 million range turns a fourth-round pick from 2017 into the highest-paid player on the team.
He has earned the conversation. Batherson put up 33 goals and 38 assists in 79 games last season, both career highs, and he was the only Senator to clear 60 points. He then scored three times in Ottawa’s first-round sweep at the hands of Carolina.
Take a look at the season that got him here:
Steve Staios told season seat holders last week that getting Batherson signed is the file he wants closed, and Batherson has said he wants to stay. Wanting the same thing has not produced a number either side will sign.
The Senators are projected to carry roughly $40 million in cap space for 2027-28, so the room is there eventually. Finding it before Sept. 15 is the part nobody has solved.
