Earlier this offseason, the Ottawa Senators traded their former captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster move. Ottawa moving Tkachuk came after the star winger asked for a trade and made it clear to Senators management that he would not re-sign with them once his deal was up. While Tkachuk wanted out of Ottawa, another one of their star forwards has made it clear that he is officially staying with the Senators for a long time.
The Senators have announced that they have signed forward Drake Batherson to an eight-year, $86 million contract extension. Starting during the 2027-28 season, he will have a $10.75 million average annual value. Seeing the Senators work hard to get Batherson signed to this long-term extension before the season is entirely understandable.
He is a huge part of their forward group, and it would have been hard to find a replacement for him if he left. Yet, they now do not need to worry about that, as the 28-year-old forward will be staying in Ottawa for a very long time. Batherson is coming off an excellent 2025-26 season with the Senators, as he set new career highs with 33 goals and 71 points in 79 games.
He has also recorded at least 62 points over each of his last four seasons, so he has been a very important offensive contributor for the Senators for a while now. In 470 career NHL games over eight seasons with Ottawa, Batherson has posted 149 goals, 215 assists, and 364 points. It will be interesting to see how well he improves upon his career stats after landing this huge contract extension from here.
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