Tim Stützle signs an extension with the Ottawa Senators that will keep him with the team for eight years starting in the 2023-24 season. The contract has an $8.35 million average annual value. Stuetzle and Senators’ general manager Pierre Dorion announced the extension together at a season start-up event, with a video of the announcement below. Stuetzle has one more year under his entry-level deal, making him under team control for nine seasons. His deal makes him the highest-paid player on the team, making about $150,000 more per season than Brady Tkachuk.
Deal for Stützle is 8 years, $8.35 M AAV.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) September 7, 2022
EIGHT YEAR EXTENSION FOR TIM pic.twitter.com/4GSDksdvuf
— Kevin Lee (@BringBackLee) September 7, 2022
Tim Stützle Signs Long-Term Extension in Ottawa
Stützle is entering his third season in the NHL. The 20-year-old centre scored 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in 53 games in his first season, he followed that up with 22 goals, and 36 assists for 58 points last year.
The German player played his first season in Ottawa as a left-winger but transitioned to centre last season. His 18:25 average ice time last season was fifth among forwards. His 50.3 Corsi For percentage was fifth on the team among those who played over 20 games. Stützle was 38.1 per cent in the faceoff circle.
The Ottawa Senators drafted Stützle third overall in the 2020 draft from the Mannheim Eagles in the DEL. This was during the virtual 2020 draft, and the team organized for “Jeopardy!” host and University of Ottawa alumni Alex Trebek to announce his selection.
What this Means for the Senators
There is a gamble to this signing. The Senators are looking at it as Stützle has progressed well in his first two years, jumping from 29 to 58 points from his first to the second season, and he should continue to do so. Stützle will also have the opportunity to centre a combination of Alex DeBrincat, Claude Giroux, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson as his wingers, meaning it’s a safe assumption he could make a massive leap this season with his natural growth and having the opportunity to play with more talented wingers.
The gamble is none of this certain. He doesn’t have a large enough sample size to safely warrant that he is worth this deal. Signing their young players to long-term extensions is how the team likes to do business; they have signed Thomas Chabot, Colin White, Tkachuk, Joshua Norris and now Stützle to long-term extensions. But Ottawa has another year with Stützle on his entry-level contract and could have waited another season to assess his performance before signing him long-term.
Whether Ottawa’s gamble on Stützle pays off will be another exciting storyline to add to the pile after their busy offseason.
