Drake Batherson says he wants his next deal with the Ottawa Senators wrapped up before the season starts.
The 28-year-old forward is heading into the final year of his six-year contract, a deal carrying a $4.975 million cap hit, and he made it clear he’d prefer not to let the situation linger once camp and the games begin. Batherson said the sides are still talking and that he wants to stay in Ottawa.
“Yeah, they’re obviously still chatting. Steve knows I want to be here, so yeah, they’ll keep moving forward with the talks and hopefully get something done here soon.”
Batherson was asked whether he’d be comfortable letting the process bleed into the season or simply heading toward unrestricted free agency if nothing gets done. His answer pointed to a simple preference: get it done early and avoid the noise.
“Yeah, I think it’d be nice just to get it done before the season and not have that distraction when the game starts. So, I’m not sure what will happen, but hopefully it gets done before then.”
He added that he doesn’t want to keep revisiting the topic over and over.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously I want to get it done before camp, like I just said. But I’m not going to get into it too much here today. I’ll let Steve and my agent handle it, and hopefully it’ll be done soon.”
Batherson also said he wasn’t sure whether the talks would drag out, noting that this is unfamiliar territory for him compared with his previous RFA situation.
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s kind of my first go around this time.
Obviously, being in RFA was a little different last time, so I’m just letting my agent handle it. I’m just kind of, you know, playing golf and training, getting ready for this year, and I’ll be ready to go no matter what my contract looks like Game one.”
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