Thomas Chabot’s contract picture is going to move onto the Senators’ front burner before long, and Ottawa would be wise to get ahead of it.
For now, there’s no real doubt about where Chabot stands in the organization. He’s the captain, he’s staying in the Nation’s Capital, and he’s still under contract for two more seasons.
He’ll be eligible for an extension on July 1, 2027. But that timeline also leaves enough room for things to get messy if the two sides wait too long.
That’s the part that should make Ottawa pause. There’s a clear chance this turns into another drawn-out negotiation, the kind that brings back memories of the Drake Batherson situation.
Nobody is suggesting Chabot is leaving. The concern is how long it takes to land on the next deal.
The main issue is figuring out what that deal should even look like.
Chabot is in the seventh year of an eight-year, $64 million contract that carries an $8 million AAV. That number is probably not going to hold on the next agreement, especially with the NHL salary cap rising. He’s due for a raise, and likely a significant one.
The catch is that the new Collective Bargaining Agreement changes the math. Chabot will not be able to sign another eight-year extension with Ottawa, because current-team extensions are now limited to seven years. If he signs for the max term, that would still carry him through his age-38 season.
The tougher debate is the money.
Cale Makar’s record-setting contract only adds to the challenge here. Chabot isn’t anywhere near Makar’s $20 million AAV, but that deal inevitably pushes the market upward. Ottawa’s captain is going to be paid like a star; the question is just how high that number climbs.
There are younger defensemen, such as Vancouver Canucks blueliner Zeev Buium, landing $9 million a year. But Chabot is not an unproven bet.
He’s established. That opens the door to a much bigger range, maybe something like $12 million or even $14 million per season.
That’s where the Senators could run into trouble, just as they did with Batherson. A long-term extension for Chabot could become complicated if the gap between what Ottawa wants and what Chabot’s camp wants gets too wide.
One possible landing spot would be a seven-year, $70 million deal. That would put both sides closer to the middle and represent a meaningful bump from his current $8 million AAV without sending the number into the stratosphere.
And if Chabot were willing to take something in that range, it would amount to doing the Senators a favor.
Still, this may all be jumping ahead of the calendar. The season is barely underway, and expectations around Ottawa are high. But once the early-season noise settles, the focus is going to shift back to Chabot’s next contract - and the sooner the Senators sort it out, the better.
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