Drake Batherson’s new deal with the Ottawa Senators came together in the kind of setting that fits late-summer hockey business perfectly: dinner on the grill, teammates nearby, and a phone call that changed everything.
Batherson was at Jake Sanderson’s place Monday night, where he’s been staying until his new home in Ottawa is ready. He was cooking steaks for himself, Sanderson and Stephen Halliday when his agent, Paul Capizzano, rang with the news Batherson had been waiting on. General manager Steve Staios followed soon after.
By then, the wait was over. Batherson had agreed to the richest contract in Senators history, an eight-year, $86 million extension that keeps him in Ottawa through 2035 and carries a $10.75 million average annual value. It was signed on the final day of the NHL’s expiring collective bargaining agreement, the last chance for eligible players to lock in an eight-year extension before the maximum term dropped to seven years a day later.
“Eight years was important for everyone,” Capizzano said to The Athletic on Tuesday. “The mutual goal was for Drake to finish his career as an Ottawa Senator, and we identified that early in the process. The CBA changes put a deadline on our ability to find an eight-year deal, so we had to work around that.”
Batherson said the contract put him in territory he never quite imagined for himself, even as the league’s financial picture kept shifting.
“I don’t think I’d ever thought I’d make this kind of money,” Batherson said. “But obviously, just where the league’s going, and how high the salary cap’s going, obviously you saw some guys (sign) this summer. But it’s going to keep growing, and I think it’s awesome for all the players.
“Once (Kirill) Kaprizov and (Leo) Carlsson and these guys started getting paid, it just gradually rose for me, I guess.”
Batherson had thought about his future before this past season, knowing he could reach free agency in 2027. But staying with the Senators remained the priority, and the real question was always the number. That part was not simple from the start of the summer.
AFP Analytics had once projected him for a six-year, $58.9 million contract with a $9.81 million cap hit. Ottawa was active and in touch throughout the process, but the front office also had plenty else on its plate: Brady Tkachuk’s trade request, Claude Giroux’s decision on whether to return, and the trades for William Eklund and André Burakovsky.
At the same time, the rising salary cap kept pushing the market upward for top players. Batherson’s camp watched that closely, and a few recent contracts helped shape the conversation.
Alex Tuch signed an eight-year, $84 million deal with a $10.5 million AAV after moving to the Washington Capitals in a sign-and-trade. Tuch’s 33 goals and 66 points with the Buffalo Sabres lined up closely with Batherson’s 33-goal, 71-point season for Ottawa. Los Angeles Kings winger Adrian Kempe also landed in the same neighborhood, with an eight-year extension carrying a $10.625 million AAV after finishing the season with similar numbers.
“In a negotiation like this, comparables matter, and those names are relevant due to their recency and position,” Capizzano said. “But team and player sides are always looking at the entire market as a whole. They were part of the bigger-picture discussions.”
Those bigger-picture talks dragged deep into Monday night and into Tuesday morning, with the deadline looming and both sides wanting the same thing: no contract cloud hanging over camp.
“Ultimately, I just wanted to get a deal done before camp,” Batherson said. “Whatever the number was.
And be here with these guys and not have a distraction going into the season. I just wanted to come into the rink and focus on playing hockey and not have to worry about anything.”
Even as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Monday night that a deal was close, Capizzano told The Athletic about an hour before midnight that there was still “lots of work to be done.”
Still, Batherson never wavered.
“We took it right down to the wire,” Batherson said. “But all along, I had faith that it was going to get done. I never questioned it for one minute.”
“I don’t know if there was one official breakthrough moment,” Capizzano said. “But everyone was aligned to want to get this done so that Drake can focus on hockey and there would be no distractions in camp.”
Tuesday morning brought the official finish, and Batherson’s signing helped trigger a wave of late deals around the league before the 11:59 p.m. deadline. The list included Anaheim Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier, Washington Capitals youngsters Ryan Leonard and Justin Sourdif, and Montreal Canadiens players Alex Newhook and Arber Xhekaj.
Now Batherson can turn his attention fully to the season ahead, and he sounds convinced the Senators are ready to keep moving forward. Ottawa still has to navigate a crowded Atlantic Division if it wants back into the playoffs, but Batherson likes what’s been built.
“I think what we’ve built here over the last couple of years, all of us are just going to increasingly get better,” Batherson said. “And we’ve added a few guys to help that out as well.
These are a group of guys that I love. And I didn’t want to be anywhere else.”
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