The Ottawa Senators are heading into training camp with a few of the offseason’s biggest questions still hanging in the air, but at least one of them sounds close to getting solved. Drake Batherson made it clear at the team’s media availability before the Senators Charity Open that he wants to stay put, while Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot were asked to reflect on Brady Tkachuk’s departure and Brad Marchand’s recent jab.
Batherson was direct when asked about his contract situation, saying, “Steve knows I want to be here.” He also wants a deal done before camp, with training camp set to open next week and the Sept. 15 deadline for an eight-year extension approaching.
Recent reports have suggested Batherson’s next contract could come in above $10 million, and Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch wrote that the expectation would be the player going to free agency if a deal isn’t signed by opening night. Batherson’s comments pointed in the opposite direction: he wants to be in the capital long term.
The conversation around Tkachuk’s exit is still part of the backdrop, and Stutzle didn’t try to dress it up. A few weeks ago, he said, “We’re focused on what we have ahead of us and the team we have right now.
So, wish him all the best.” At the Charity Open, he stuck to that same line, saying, “[I was] pretty surprised.
At the end it’s his decision. I said before, we’re moving on.”
He added, “If you play with a guy for that many years, a good friend to everyone on the team, you can’t worry about that. You gotta keep playing.
I’m excited for next season.”
Chabot was also asked how he took the trade and whether he felt slighted by it. His answer made it clear he wanted Tkachuk around, but wasn’t interested in dragging the matter out.
“We always do. You want guys to be here.
You want guys to want to be part of this team and city. When you see something like that, I’d be lying if I said I was happy when he decided to leave…” Chabot said he called Tkachuk after the trade and added, “I don’t hold anything against him.
I wished him the best of luck for his future & his career.”
Marchand’s name came into the mix after a regular rumours update from PuckEmpire on Instagram listed Chabot, Stutzle, and defenseman Jake Sanderson as the front-runners for the captaincy. Marchand, who is a former NHL captain and now Tkachuk’s teammate with the Florida Panthers, commented, “Hahahah ……stutzle….hahaha”
Batherson, who spends a lot of his summer in Nova Scotia with Marchand, said he texted him after seeing it. “I text him saying, ‘Marchy, what are you doing?
… I told Timmy it’s all good. He’s been doing that for 20 years, that’s just Marchy being Marchy.”
Stutzle wasn’t rattled either, saying he wasn’t worried about the comments, respects Marchand as a player, and understands that’s how he gets into people’s heads.
For the Senators, the biggest immediate takeaway might be Batherson’s tone. In an offseason where uncertainty has hovered over the roster, he sounded like a player who wants the next chapter written in Ottawa.
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