The Ottawa Senators and forward Drake Batherson have come to terms on an 8 year, $10.75M AAV extension on Tuesday the club announced. The new deal will tie Batherson to the club through the 2034-35 season, and locks up a key piece of their top 6 forward group in the process.
“Drake exemplifies what it is to be an Ottawa Senator,” said Senators GM Steve Staios. “He was drafted and developed by our organization and has shown a commitment to wanting to be in Ottawa long term. We view him as a key part of our core group.”
The 28 year old set a career high in goals and points during the 2025-26 NHL campaign, tallying 33 goals and 38 assists during the regular season, adding another 4 points (3G, 1A) across 4 games in the playoffs as well.
Despite being shy of his 30th birthday, Batherson is already 10th all-time on the Senators career scoring list with 364 points across 470 contests. Barring injury, he’s in line to appear in his 500th career game with Ottawa this upcoming season, becoming just the 14th player in franchise history to reach the milestone.
Originally drafted in the 4th round, 121st overall, by Ottawa during the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the 6’3″ winger has increased his point total in every season at the NHL level since he debuted in 2018-19. Internationally Batherson has represented Canada on multiple occasions, capturing gold at the 2018 World Junior Championships, and helping to bring home a silver medal from the 2022 World Championships.
According to reports, the new deal will feature $30M in bonuses as well as a no-move clause for the first 4 seasons of the deal. The bonuses represent a departure from Ottawa’s previous track record of contract negotiations, but bringing the club more in line with what other organizations around the NHL are doing in terms of payment structure.
By completing the deal on Tuesday, Batherson and the Senators come in just under the wire before the new collective bargaining agreement kicks in on Wednesday. The new CBA will lower the maximum term on a contract to 7 years for players re-signing with a team, and 6 years for free agents changing teams in the offseason.
Photo: The AHL. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.