Following a resurgent 25-goal, 54-point season in Boston, Viktor Arvidsson has raised his NHL stock mightily this season, just in time for free agency.
Leading into this season, Viktor Arvidsson had endured a tough couple of years.
In 2023-24, the veteran forward had 15 points but was limited to just 18 games for the Los Angeles Kings due to injuries. In 2024, Arvidsson signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
And production-wise, that season didn't go well either.
Arvidsson had just 27 points in 67 games in 2024-25, so after one season, the cap-strapped Oilers traded him to the Boston Bruins for a fifth-round draft pick. You can immediately count that among the many decisions that have blown up in the Oilers faces in recent years.
Arvidsson was obviously happy with the deal, and not just because he waived his full no-move clause to get out of Edmonton. He answered all his doubters by putting up the fifth 25-plus goal season of his career to go with 54 points.
On his podcast this week, Coming in Hot, I was pleased to hear NHL analyst Jason York talk Arvidsson up as a pending free agent the Senators should target should he hit free agency. Arvidsson's game is one that I've admired for a long time.
"I love how Viktor Arvidsson plays," York said. "He is fast, he's fearless."
York then visualized what the top three lines might look like if the Senators could land Arvidsson.
"If you could get him on a short-term deal, that's a guy that (if you sign him) you could go, 'Okay, I've got Brady on my left side. I got Timmy, and I need some speed, a little burner on the right side. There's Viktor Arvidsson.
"You put Drake Batherson down, playing with Dylan Cozens and Ridly Greig. Then I've got Claude Giroux, I've got Amadio, and I've got Pinto. Presto, there are my three lines."
Now 33, Arvidsson does have red flags. For one, it's always best to be cautious about the veteran free agent who erupts in a contract year.
Then there's the penchant for injuries. Physically speaking, like Ridly Greig, Arvidsson is not shy to go to the dirty areas, playing a big man's game in a smaller frame.
He missed 13 games this season, with stints on the DL with a lower-body injury in November and December, but stayed relatively healthy beyond that. He did suffer a broken rib and a partially cracked lung in the playoffs that forced him to miss the final two games against the Sabres, but he was said to be tracking to try and return if the Bruins had gotten the series to Game 7.
It's still possible he'll sign an extension in Boston, and no one is closing the door on that notion.
"Well, I had a lot of fun, I think, coming from Edmonton last year, not having the best year behind me, and I just love the group we had, and we had so much fun together, and that made it easier and translated on the ice too."
After the season he just had, he'll be looking to parlay that into a deal with term, whether it's in Boston or somewhere else.
"I'm happy to talk to Sweens (GM Don Sweeney) about coming back. It's just a lot of areas that need to be figured out with my family and stuff like that, you gotta think about that too. But it's like I said, I had fun, and I really like it here, so I'm open to it."
As Bruins columnist Joe Haggerty put it, Arvidsson not only put up points but played a tenacious, feisty game as well, replacing some of what was lost when Brad Marchand exited for Florida.
As long as the price and term make sense, Viktor Arvidsson, with his speed, offence, leadership, and the peskiness that Ottawa fans like, would look very good in a Senators' uniform next season.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News