The Ottawa Senators have finished off their remaining restricted free agents, locking up both Xavier Bourgault and Tyler Boucher on one-year, two-way deals at the league-minimum $850,000 salary.
Bourgault’s AHL number comes in at $265,000, while Boucher will earn $90,000 in the minors. Both players are eligible for waivers before being sent down to the AHL, though neither seems especially likely to get claimed.
Both forwards spent last season on the right side with Belleville and turned in career-best numbers. Bourgault finished with 25 goals and 57 points in 70 games.
Boucher, who stayed relatively healthy for the second straight year, posted 12 goals and 26 assists in 47 games. There’s still a path for either player to work his way into an NHL fourth-line role down the road, but the expectation is that Ottawa would only see them for a couple of games at most unless injuries pile up badly - not just in the NHL, but also among some of the newer AHL additions like Sammy Blais and Philip Tomasino.
On the Ottawa Charge side, winger Sarah Wozniewicz is now signed for the long haul. After the club announced new deals for Rebecca Leslie and Fanuza Kadirova last week, Wozniewicz was the final RFA left on the roster outside of the 2026 draftees.
The Charge took her in the third round in 2025, and she delivered a strong rookie season, tying for third among rookie forwards with 13 points in 30 games. She added four points in eight playoff games, including an assist on Leslie’s winner in Game 3 of the Walter Cup final against Montreal.
That three-year contract is a major result for Ottawa. It keeps an upside player in the fold and gives the Charge a welcome lift after the mass exodus that followed last year’s Finals appearance.
Around the league, the Philadelphia Flyers will not be landing Leo Carlsson. The Anaheim Ducks matched the five-year, $18 million-per-year offer sheet, keeping their top player on a deal that looks like it could age poorly.
The Flyers still sit as a solid team in need of a first-line center to stay in the playoff mix, while Anaheim now has just $9 million in cap space to get Cutter Gauthier signed. For Senators fans and plenty of others, it’s the outcome they were hoping for.
There was also some recognition for head coach Travis Green, who has been inducted into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame as part of its 2026 class.
In his draft year, 1989, Green put up 51 goals and 51 assists with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs before going 23rd overall to the New York Islanders. After his playing days, and before he started coaching in the NHL, he worked as both coach and GM of the Portland Winterhawks.
And for those already looking ahead, the B-Sens’ 2026-27 AHL schedule is out, with the season set to open on October 2 against the new Hamilton Hammers.
One final note: Sam Ersson and Andre Burakovsky are available on the Senators’ website.
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Michael Bunting has surfaced as the kind of free-agent fit that makes sense for that job. He brings a physical edge, but he has also shown he can finish, which is why a down season does not necessarily close the book on him as a bounce-back option. For Ottawa, the appeal is obvious: if the Senators are serious about staying hard to play against after the Tkachuk trade, they may need a forward who can do more than just fill a roster spot. [Read more 🡒]