The Ottawa Senators signed defenseman Travis Hamonic to a two-year contract worth $1.1 million per season. Here's what it means for the team.

Defenseman Travis Hamonic is sticking with the Ottawa Senators by signing a two-year contract worth $1.1 million per season.

Hamonic is reportedly also getting a no-move clause in his newest contract, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The 32-year-old ranked second among Ottawa's defensemen in games played this past season, recording six goals and 15 assists for 21 points in 75 matchups. Hamonic also averaged 18:34 per game, which was the fifth-most among Sens blueliners.

"Travis is a key component of our group," Senators GM Pierre Dorion said in a statement. "He routinely sets a good example for our younger players with work ethic and accountability, his fearlessness and with a determination level that he seems to exceed each time he steps on the ice. He's a leader with strong character and someone we're very pleased to see returning."

Hamonic's new deal comes with less cap hit than the previous two-year contract he signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 2021, worth $3 million per year. But if the reports are true that Hamonic will have a no-move clause, that is a step up from his previous eight-team no-trade clause.

The St. Malo, Man., native had signs of a comeback year in 2022-23, recording a career-high games played in a season and the most points since the 21 he achieved in 2015-16 with the New York Islanders. His 109 hits were also the most since 2015-16, and his 143 blocks were the most since his career-high 167 in 2018-19 with the Calgary Flames.

Hamonic did average less ice time per game this season than any other in his 13-year NHL career, though, and next season likely won't be much different. The Senators have Artem Zub and potentially Jakob Chychrun on the right side ahead of Hamonic, so Hamonic could slot in on the third pair alongside newly extended Erik Brannstrom. 

Fellow right-hand defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, 23, also extended with the Sens on a two-year, one-way deal. If Hamonic underperforms at any point, Bernard-Docker has a chance of taking over that spot. 

Hamonic did record a 49.52 expected goals-for percentage at 5-on-5 this past season, according to naturalstattrick.com. That ranked him sixth among regular Sens defensemen and means the team was more likely to concede more goals against than goals-for based on shot quality when Hamonic was on the ice. But when Bernard-Docker played 19 games for Ottawa when called up from AHL Belleville, he had a 49.35 expected goals-for percentage at 5-on-5. It could be a tight internal competition for that third-pair, right-hand slot.

The Senators now have 17 signed players on their active roster with about $9 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia. The big question that lies ahead is what Dorion and the team will do with RFA forward Alex DeBrincat. If he stays with the team for another year, the Sens will likely need to clear cap space to re-sign RFAs Shane Pinto and Egor Sokolov, as well as find more players to round out the forward corps.

It's a crucial time for the Ottawa Senators this early in the off-season, but the good news is their defense group looks locked in.