The Ottawa Senators have some unfinished business with Drake Batherson, and the price tag on that next deal is starting to come into focus.
Batherson’s extension talks are underway, and the sense is that both sides want to keep the relationship going. Ottawa has plenty of incentive to make it happen.
With William Eklund the only other true top-six winger in the picture - and he hasn’t even played for the club yet - Batherson matters to what the Senators are trying to build. If this team is going to keep moving forward, finding more scoring is a priority, and letting Batherson walk would make that job a lot harder.
The money, though, is where things get interesting. Batherson is underpaid right now, but the new salary-cap landscape is changing the conversation around his next contract.
One comparable that has surfaced is Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings. As Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch wrote, “A league insider told the Citizen that Batherson’s camp is likely using Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings as another comparable.” (from ‘Gap remains wide as Senators, Drake Batherson work toward new deal’, Ottawa Sun, July 28, 2026)
Garrioch also noted that Ottawa’s usual reluctance to lean on bonus-heavy contracts could become a sticking point. If the Senators and Batherson land somewhere in Kempe territory, that would mean an eight-year deal carrying a $10.625 million annual cap hit - a number that would likely feel workable for both sides.
Out in Carolina, another contract situation is getting expensive fast. Alexander Nikishin, now a restricted free agent, is pushing well past the $8 million line in his negotiations with the Hurricanes. When asked by RG.org whether $8 million was the target, Nikishin answered, “more.”
That answer fits the kind of offseason we’ve seen around the league. AFP Analytics projects a long-term deal around $7 million, but the market has already been moving in ways that make a higher number feel plausible.
Nikishin, 24, arrived after several strong seasons in Russia and delivered a rookie year that included 11 goals and 33 points, plus a Stanley Cup ring. His playoff role was smaller than his regular-season workload, but he still chipped in on the way to the title.
The wrinkle is that Nikishin was already part of trade chatter earlier in the offseason, so the Hurricanes are still deciding whether the answer is a new deal or a new destination.
And beyond the current contract messes, the league may be laying the groundwork for its next expansion wave.
In June, reports surfaced that the NHL was exploring Texas as a possible landing spot, with Houston and Austin both in the mix. Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league would go through a six-month exploration phase to figure out whether either city is the next move.
John Shannon added another layer on the 100% Hockey podcast, reporting that the current rumour points to expansion before the 2030-31 season. There’s also chatter that the league could look beyond Texas, with Atlanta and Phoenix/Arizona getting another shot at some point. If Houston or Austin does come in, adding Atlanta not long after would make sense as a way to rebalance the two conferences.
The last two expansion stories have gone in very different directions. The Vegas Golden Knights reached three Stanley Cup Finals in their first nine years, while the Seattle Kraken have only made the playoffs once and dealt with the fallout from Vegas’ expansion-draft success.
There are still worries about talent getting spread thinner as the league grows, but the belief here is that the NHL’s player pool is strong enough to handle it.
In Other News...
Nikishin Just Raised The Stakes In Carolinas Next Contract Call
The ripple effect from Macklin Celebrinis five-year, $94 million extension is already reaching beyond San Jose and into the next round of NHL contract talks, where top young defensemen will have plenty of numbers to study. For Carolina, the conversation has quickly turned to Alexander Nikishin, whose first notable contract ask is being viewed through the same lens as the deals elite players are landing elsewhere, especially as the market keeps creeping upward for impact blue-liners.
Nikishin is reportedly aiming above the $8 million-per-season range, a figure that would immediately reset expectations for a Hurricanes defenseman if it becomes the starting point in serious negotiations. What makes it even more interesting is that there still is not much clarity on the structure of the deal he wants, leaving Carolina with an important question to sort through well before the next contract cycle gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
The Worst Hurricanes Playoff Pain Still Defines This Team
The Hurricanes have built plenty of good regular seasons in recent years, but their playoff history still carries the weight of three Eastern Conference finals that ended badly. A retrospective ranking of the franchises postseason series puts those defeats at the bottom of the list, with the 2019 loss to Boston standing out for how thoroughly Carolina was controlled, while the 2009 meeting with Pittsburgh is remembered more for being competitive before slipping away.
For a team that has been close enough to taste a Stanley Cup Final berth, those series remain a reminder of how narrow the margin can be at that stage. Even in a rankings exercise, the same theme keeps surfacing for Carolina: when the pressure rises in the Eastern Conference finals, the Hurricanes have too often found themselves one step short of the breakthrough they were chasing. [Read more 🡒]