The Ottawa Senators want Drake Batherson to stay, and Batherson reportedly wants to remain in Ottawa. So why is this suddenly becoming one of the more intriguing contract situations in the NHL?
Because the clock is beginning to matter.
Batherson is reportedly seeking the maximum eight-year contract extension, but league sources cited by Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch don’t believe the two sides are currently close to a deal. September 15 adds another layer of urgency: it is the final day Batherson can sign for eight years before new NHL contract rules take effect. Beginning September 16, the maximum term for a player re-signing with his current club drops to seven years.
That does not mean the Senators have to trade Batherson if September 15 passes.
But in my view, it creates the first real pressure point in negotiations.
Batherson is entering the final season of his current deal, carries a remarkably team-friendly $4.975 million cap hit, and just produced the best offensive season of his NHL career: 33 goals, 38 assists and 71 points in 79 games. He also posted strong underlying numbers, including a 56.0 percent expected-goals share and 55.0 percent Corsi share.
The Ottawa Senators aren’t negotiating with the Batherson who signed for under $5 million annually in 2021 anymore.
They’re negotiating with a legitimate 30-goal, 70-point top-six winger who is approaching unrestricted free agency.
Drake Batherson Career NHL Stats
| Type | GP | G | A | P | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | 470 | 149 | 215 | 364 | -87 |
| Playoffs | 10 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -7 |
Why Drake Batherson’s Contract Is Becoming a Major Ottawa Senators Decision
The most important part of this negotiation may be the comparables.
Alex Tuch’s eight-year, $84-million contract and Adrian Kempe’s eight-year, $85-million extension are reportedly being viewed as comparables for Batherson. That places the conversation around an AAV of roughly $10.5 million to $10.625 million before negotiations even start moving around individual circumstances.
That’s a massive jump from Batherson’s present $4.975 million cap hit, but the NHL’s rapidly rising salary cap changes how those numbers should be viewed.
The NHL’s 2027-28 upper limit is currently projected at $113.5 million, meaning a $10.5-million Batherson contract would occupy roughly 9.25 percent of the cap. An $11-million deal would be about 9.69 percent.
Here’s where I think this becomes particularly interesting for Ottawa.
Batherson at $10.5 million would suddenly carry a higher cap hit than several major Senators already under contract, including Tim Stützle at $8.35 million, Jake Sanderson at $8.05 million, Shane Pinto at $7.5 million and Dylan Cozens at $7.1 million.
Ottawa can afford Batherson on paper. PuckPedia currently projects more than $40 million of 2027-28 cap space, although that figure comes with only 14 players projected on the NHL roster and therefore should not be treated as $40 million of genuinely disposable money.
The harder question isn’t can Ottawa pay him?
It’s should Batherson become one of the Senators’ highest-paid players?
Could the Ottawa Senators Actually Trade Drake Batherson?
This is where the trade-rumor angle needs some restraint.
There is currently no indication in the reporting that general manager Steve Staios is actively shopping Batherson. In fact, the reporting suggests the opposite: there is mutual interest in reaching an extension.
But contract negotiations have a way of changing leverage.
If September 15 arrives without an eight-year extension, negotiations can continue under a seven-year maximum. If the sides remain significantly apart deeper into the 2026-27 season, however, Ottawa would eventually have to decide whether to continue negotiating, allow Batherson to approach unrestricted free agency, or explore his trade value.
And I would expect that value to be considerable.
Batherson isn’t a declining veteran being moved simply to clear salary. He is 28, coming off a 33-goal season, has size at 6-foot-3, produces on the power play and has missed only three regular-season games over the past four seasons. Sportsnet recently identified him among the notable potential 2027 unrestricted free agents for exactly those reasons.
There’s another layer to this that shouldn’t be ignored: Ottawa already made one enormous change to its forward core this summer by trading former captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers. Moving Batherson as well would represent another major alteration to a Senators team trying to remain competitive.
That’s why I believe a Batherson trade should remain Plan B, not Plan A.
My Drake Batherson Trade Value Score
The biggest thing suppressing his trade value is contractual control. A team acquiring Batherson with an extension attached should theoretically value him much differently than a club acquiring one guaranteed season before unrestricted free agency.
That is another reason Ottawa should want clarity sooner rather than later.
My Take: Ottawa Should Push Hard to Get This Done
If I were running the Senators, my goal would be to find the compromise before September 15.
An eight-year contract around $10 million to $10.5 million annually may look enormous beside Batherson’s current deal, but NHL salaries are being reset by a rapidly increasing cap. The mistake would be comparing his next contract to the $4.975-million bargain he signed five years ago instead of comparing it to what 30-goal wingers will cost in 2027.
At the same time, Ottawa shouldn’t hand out $11 million simply because the deadline is approaching.
Batherson has become an extremely valuable piece of the Senators’ offence, but he hasn’t established himself as a perennial point-per-game superstar. Staios needs to balance Batherson’s production against Ottawa’s long-term salary hierarchy.
My preferred outcome would be an extension.
But if the ask climbs well beyond what Ottawa considers reasonable and there is still no progress during the season, the Senators absolutely need to understand what Batherson could return on the trade market rather than risk allowing a premium asset to walk into unrestricted free agency.
That’s when this story would move from contract negotiations to a legitimate Drake Batherson trade rumor.
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