The Ottawa Senators are heading into the season with a core that knows each other well and a front office that still has some business to settle.
Shane Pinto says that familiarity matters. Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Pinto and defenseman Thomas Chabot are entering their seventh season together, and the group is carrying the same feeling: there’s more to do in Ottawa.
"We have a bunch of guys here that have been here for a while," Pinto told Ottawa radio station The Team 1200. “I think we're all growing together with Timmy, Drake, and ‘Chabs’ … and I think that's the (focus) now.”
Batherson is one of the biggest priorities before the season gets rolling. He’s in the final year of the six-year, $29.85 million contract he signed on Sept. 3, 2021, with a $4.975 average annual value, and he became eligible for a new deal on July 1. The 28-year-old just put together the best offensive season of his NHL career, setting highs with 33 goals and 71 points.
Ottawa also got an important veteran voice back in the room when Claude Giroux signed a one-year, $2 million deal on July 7. The 38-year-old is back for a fifth season with the Senators, and as a former captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, he remains a major presence in the dressing room, especially with Tkachuk gone.
There’s movement brewing beyond the roster, too. Team president Cyril Leeder told season ticket holders this month that the Senators hope to provide an update in the new year on the proposed downtown Ottawa arena project.
Taken together, the message from the organization is simple: Ottawa wants to keep pushing ahead on every front.
“We can't look at the team right now and be like, ‘Oh, we're sure going to make the playoffs,' or 'We're for sure going to go to the second round' ‘ Giroux said. "It just doesn't work like that. Teams are going to be waiting for us now.
“But it's a challenge that (we're all) looking forward to.”
In Other News...
Senators Face A Painful Drake Batherson Decision As Deadline Nears
The Senators are trying to get ahead of a delicate contract situation with Drake Batherson, whose future has become one of the more important questions on their summer to-do list. Ottawa wants to keep the winger as part of its core and has been working on a long-term extension, a reflection of how much value the club places on his play and stability in the lineup.
The backdrop makes the urgency even sharper for Canadian teams, with a growing trend of American players asking out and other clubs, like Montreal, weighing their own roster and trade decisions carefully. For Ottawa, the Batherson talks are not just about keeping a useful forward in place. They are also about avoiding a situation where the club is forced to consider a trade path if the sides cannot find common ground in time. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Forward Depth Could Get Tested Fast Next Season
The Senators forward depth could be one of the more interesting early-season storylines if Ottawa comes out of the gate slowly next year. Andre Burakovsky and Warren Foegele both arrived with clear expectations attached, and their fits in the lineup may be judged quickly if the offense sputters and the club needs a jolt.
Burakovskys future in particular appears tied to whether he can deliver enough scoring to justify his spot, while Foegeles value will be measured in much the same way. If those contributions do not come, Ottawa could explore moving either veteran, though both players have limited no-trade clauses that would shape the process and add another layer to a decision the Senators may not want to make in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]