Today’s edition of NHL Rumours comes from the main Ottawa Senator and a TSN insider Bruce Garrioch. He wanted to chat about one very important Senator forward Drake Batherson. Specifically, Garrioch wanted to talk about his future, in Ottawa or otherwise, and what his next contract might look like.
NHL and Ottawa Senators Rumours and what Drake Batherson‘s Contract Extension Looks Like
Rumour: Bruce Garrioch at the intermission of the TSN broadcast last night chatted about Batherson’s situation. He did seem positive that he and the Sens would ultimately come together. In doing so, Garrioch gave his thoughts on a potential average annual value.
Analysis: It does make sense that Batherson and the Sens would want to make it work. For a player of Batherson’s skillset, there does seem to be some precedence.
Garroich did want to make clear that as of now, Drake Batherson’s team and the Sens management have not gotten together to talk about a contract extension. This isn’t necessarily meaningful, as Batherson is signed through next season. However, once July 1st, 2026 rolls around, he will be able to put pen to paper with Ottawa. As such, he is one of the Senators biggest priorities, just based on timing and his impact on the club’s bottom line.
Credit Image: © Alex Cave/ZUMA Press Wire
The Sens Perspective
He’s a guy who has played power play time throughout much of his time in Ottawa. Currently, in 2025-26, quite often he plays a big role on a line with Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle. Statistically, The Drake is also in the midst of a career season. His 32 goals is already a career-high, along with his 69 points. His consistency has been marked. In each of the last four seasons, that includes this one, he has had 62-or-more points. Actually, he has improved on his previous season’s point total, in every season of his NHL career. He always proven to give the Sens exactly what they need.
We have seen though, that wingers like that, tend to stay with current teams. The teams know how valuable they are, even if they aren’t quite top-end scorers, still their contributions are very difficult to replace.
That was kind of Garrioch’s perspective. So, in coming up with some comparable-type contracts, you have to consider guys that re-signed with their previous club.
Looking Around the League for Comps
Alex Tuch is thought to be a very close baseline for Batherson’s deal. The 30-year-old will be one of the big unrestricted free agents this summer. Moreover, he brings some excellent offensive stats, including three 30-goal campaigns. His career high with the Buffalo Sabres came back in 2022-23, with 79 points in 74 games. His situation is slightly different given that he has made it to free agency, and in a very weak free agent class.
The Anaheim Cases
The comparable with Mason McTavish is to consider his career-best season came last year. He scored 22 goals and 30 assists in 76 games. Then in September of 2025, at the age of 22, he parlayed that campaign into a six-year, $42 million contract. There is belief that McTavish has offensive upside still. Plus, you must consider (the recently extended) notoriously tough to negotiate with general manager for the Anaheim Ducks in Pat Verbeek. Verbeek had also inked a 26-year-old Troy Terry in 2023 to a seven-year, $49 million deal. His offensive output had been a bit inconsistent. He was coming off back-to-back 60-point campaigns, but his 37-goal 2021-22 does stand as a bit of an outlier. The previous year to that season he had seven goals in 48 games, and otherwise maxed out at 23 the following year.
Matthew Knies has a bit of a different situation, signing his deal at 22. He is being groomed as a top liner, and hopes his next deal is his big home run deal, not unlike Batherson’s current position. Knies signed for an average annual value of $7.75 million coming off a career best of 64 points in 76 games.
One Potential Contract to See as a Ceiling for Dollar Amount
For the type of player that could be seen as a ceiling, we look at Alex DeBrincat. DeBrincat is seen as a somewhat one-way, offensive player, but that should do nothing to dispel his talent. Four times in his career he has scored 39-or-more goals. This season has been a bit of a breakout for him, in fact. In 79 games, he is up to 40 goals (one off his high of 41), a career-high 43 assists, and will be a point-per-game player for only the second time in his career. He is set to become a free agent when Batherson becomes one. In addition, Batherson, and somewhat thanks to his size, does likely play a more complete game, most notably in the physical department. So, there are some differences, but still DeBrincat is thought to be potentially up to $11 million AAV.
A Couple Homers
A couple guys that you could argue did take a little less, as a hometown discount say, would be Brock Boeser and Carter Verhaeghe. At 28, Boeser signed for $7.25 million, for seven years. He does possess a career high of 40 gaols and 73 points from 2023-24. Conversely, he hadn’t been above 56 points otherwise. Also, his durability has been questioned at some points, plus he doesn’t have great foot speed, in today’s fast-paced game. For Verhaeghe, he did post back-to-back 72-plus point seasons. However, he has come back down the past two seasons. He earns $7 million per annum.
Back to the Sens and Batherson
In terms of Batherson’s contract, Garrioch did suggest he could bring in $9-to-10 million on the open market. Fortunately for the Sens, if he opts for a hometown reduced rate, he might be down to $8 million. That’s aligned with the contracts of Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and even the now gone, Joshua Norris.
In any case, it does seem like Batherson and the Sens are a good fit for one another. Just because they haven’t engaged in contract negotiations yet, Garrioch does emphasize that is par for course. Besides the Sens are fully entrenched in a Stanley Cup Playoff race, and do not need any additional distractions in what was already a very turbulent campaign. So Sen fans be patient, this will get done, it will just come down to dollars and Sens.
Posting this right after Bruce Garrioch said Batherson might ask for $9M-$10M
Drake Batherson sets a #nice Career High in Points pic.twitter.com/jrxVp0gmxh
— Jammy 🐝 (@SensBuzz) April 10, 2026
Main Photo: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
