The Ottawa Senators kept busy on the first day of NHL free agency, filling out the edges of their roster with a batch of two-way contracts on Wednesday afternoon.
Headlining the group were veterans Sammy Blais and Philip Tomasino, two players with real NHL mileage who give Ottawa some immediate experience. The Senators also added minor league depth with Ryan Suzuki, Christian Kyrou and Philippe Daoust.
Blais brings 278 games of NHL experience, and his most recent stop was with the Toronto Maple Leafs this past season. In eight games there, he picked up three points. For his career, he has 79 points and 132 penalty minutes.
Tomasino arrives with a first-round pedigree from the 2019 NHL Draft. He has played 218 career games between Nashville and Pittsburgh and has collected 95 points along the way.
Suzuki is the younger brother of Montreal captain Nick Suzuki, while Kyrou is the brother of Capitals winger Jordan Kyrou. Daoust has been in the organization since Ottawa drafted him in 2020.
The signings came during a complicated offseason for Steve Staios and the Senators’ front office. Captain Brady Tkachuk’s trade request set off a move to the Florida Panthers, and Ottawa’s return was made up entirely of draft picks.
The Senators later used one of those picks to bring in William Eklund from the San Jose Sharks as a replacement top-six left winger, then followed that up by acquiring Andre Burakovsky in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Staios also locked up defenseman Jordan Spence on a four-year, $20 million extension after a strong analytical debut in Canada’s capital. Earlier Wednesday, Ottawa added another piece for the crease by signing Samuel Ersson to a two-year contract as the backup for Linus Ullmark.
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