In the news today, as we are heading into the NHL’s free agent period and on the day of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft we have a report of a new Jordan Spence contract to discuss. The deal is being reported as four years, for about $20 million, so that would work out to about an annual average cap hit of $5M for the previously pending restricted free agent.
Credit Image: © Daniel Lea/Cal Sport Media
Restricted Free Agent Jordan Spence Contract Signed, Sealed, and Delivered
Hearing approximately $20M for Spence https://t.co/kI7O1j31MT
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 26, 2026
The Ottawa Senators had acquired Jordan Spence last summer from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a pair of draft picks. He had been brought in to add some depth to the Sens backend, in particular on the right side. One of the Sens vets, Nick Jensen, was still recovering from a hip injury at the time, so it was unclear where Spence would be ultimately needed.
To start the campaign, Spence was actually healthy-scratched. However, as the season went along, he worked his way into the lineup. Of course, it wasn’t without its hiccups. As despite some great analytics, he was prone to a few costly errors, especially early on in the season. But between injuries, and his continued solid play, Spence’s role with the team continued to grow and grow as the season went along. That is why some were making the argument that it might be a good time to sell high on Spence. With Carter Yakemchuk on his way to the NHL, possibly as early as the start of 2026-27, and with Nikolas Matinpalo and Artem Zub already there on the right-side, it wasn’t clear where he would fit in in Ottawa.
As we announced the new Jordan Spence contract, let’s review his statistics from 2025-26. In 73 games for the Sens, he ended up with seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points. His point production was aided by a secondary role, filling in on the power play from time to time. His total average ice time on the season was 18:44. However, if you check his game logs, from about mid-March timeframe, he was often over 20 minutes, and sometimes well over that amount. Analytically, if you go by expected goal percentage, he was on all three of the Sens top pairings in the regular season, at over 60% on each of them. Anyway you slice and dice it, he was a very strong player for the Sens in 2025-26.
Main Photo Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images
