The Ottawa Senators are in line to retain one of their top forwards in Drake Batherson. For the last four seasons, he’s scored at least 60 or more points.
Now, he’s available to be awarded a contract extension.
The revised Collective Bargaining Agreement will come into effect on September 16. Part of the new CBA is that the maximum number of years for a contract extension goes from 8 to 7 years.
Batherson and the Senators could strike a deal before the new CBA kicks in to keep the Fort Wayne, Indiana native around on a longer-term contract.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was on his 32 Thoughts podcast Tuesday and provided an update on Batherson’s new contract extension.
“All I can say I have heard about this one is there is a path to a deal here,” Friedman said.
“I’ve heard in several different places that there is a path to a deal between Batherson and Ottawa.”
Heavy learned from a source close to Batherson that there is nothing to report at this time regarding an extension.
A contract is not imminent at this time, but the conversation around Batherson’s new deal will continue between the Senators and the player’s camp.
Ottawa would like to keep Batherson
The Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch reported on August 17 that Batherson would like an 8-year deal.
Garrioch wrote that Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, wants to keep Batherson, and the right-winger has expressed a desire to stay.
Staios addressed fans at the Senators season-ticket summit on August 12 regarding the future of Batherson.
“There’s no secret that we want to get Drake Batherson signed,” Staios said. “That conversation is ongoing with Drake, and it takes two sides to come to a deal. But there’s been good dialogue as we move forward.
“He’s a homegrown talent. It’s a great story. He continues to get better, and we feel like we have a very great, strong, contending team with a chance to win. We want him to be a part of it.”
It’s become pertinent to the Senators that retaining high-end talent is a must after trading former captain Brady Tkachuk. He joined his brother Matthew with the Florida Panthers.
What will Batherson be owed on a New Contract?
Batherson, who scored 30-goals last season, has outperformed his current contract. He’s in the final year of a 6-year deal worth $29.85 million going into the 2026-27 season.
Ottawa relied heavily on Batherson’s production on the power play last season as well. He and forward Dylan Cozens each scored 13 times on the man-advantage, which led the team. Batherson also had 30 of his 71 points last season come off the power play.
According to AFP Analytics’ projection, Batherson is slated to get 6 years at $113,500,000, which is an average annual salary of $9.8 million.
Friedman continued to chat on his show about what dollar amount to sign Batherson would be, and it’s close to the aforementioned AFP projection.
“I do think with Ottawa I would be surprised if Batherson comes in under $10 million. I just don’t think that is feasible.”
Should Batherson sign a deal of that magnitude, it will be the highest annual salary of any current Senators forward on the roster.
Batherson would pass Tim Stutzle, whose AAV is currently $8.3 million for the next five seasons. That seems to be a bargain for Ottawa, as Stutzle has scored 322 points over the last 315 regular-season games.
According to Puck Pedia, the Senators have $4,195,833 in cap space to work with ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Drake Batherson Poised for Contract Extension with Senators