Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios held court with the media on Wednesday morning at Canadian Tire Centre. It's standard operating procedure for an NHL general manager this time of the year, just days before the NHL Draft and the free agent frenzy.

Not surprisingly, the first question from the media was about unrestricted free agent Claude Giroux and how things are going in contract talks.

"Well, we continue to talk," Staios said. "I mean, I think I've stated how we want Claude back. It's not respecting the integrity of the process of negotiating if I make any more comments other than that. But we continue to talk, and that's really all I have. Nothing really to report on it." 

Sportsnet’s Elliott Friedman reported this week that the sticking point appears to be a dispute over bonus structure.

Friedman: "Jonathan Toews’ bonus-laden deal could be the template for Giroux... I’ve heard Giroux and Ottawa were battling over bonus structure. Pat Brisson, Giroux’s agent, also represents Jonathan Toews, so you can see what a finished product might look like. Plenty of time to sort this out. This is grind season."

Frankly, it's borderline outrageous to think that Giroux, who's missed only one game in his last three seasons as an Ottawa Senator, would be in the same discussion as Toews, who hasn't played a single game of hockey in two years.

Giroux hasn't said much about his contract situation since locker clean-out day back in early May, but it sounds like both sides, as Staios mentioned, are keeping the lines of communication open.

If G does come back, the question then becomes: Is he still a top-six guy or maybe a third-line option? That's the debate that could be at the heart of this current stalemate.

So, where does Staios see Giroux fitting into the lineup?

"Well, I'll give you (head coach Travis Green’s) line," Staios said. "(The players) will dictate where they play. We want good players on our team. Claude's a good player. We've got internal competition, which is a good thing, and it's a healthy competition where our players respect one another and play for one another.

"But there's a lot of players who can play different roles in different areas. I was asked earlier about the many right-shot forwards we have, but Perron, Giroux and Zetterlund have all played on the left side. So dictating where a player is going to play in our lineup – I think you sort of have a vision as a manager – but I think what we've created at this point in time is enough competition where the players who are playing the best at that time—and we know there are ups and downs in the season—but if they're playing well at that time, Travis will play them."

That reply may provide a hint at why talks have been such a grind. 

Normally, if you ask an NHL GM about a star player on his team and where he sees him fitting in, he doesn't usually say, it depends on how well he plays. It sounded in that reply like Staios may view Giroux as more of a supporting cast member now. 

But it's fair to ask, when you look at this year's performances, what supports that belief? Why is Giroux being lumped into a possible job share with Zetterlund and Perron and not pencilled in for the top six every night? The stats don't support that.

Zetterlund came in here and got 5 points in 20 games and then zero points in six playoff games. Perron got 16 points in 43 games, or parlayed over a full season, around 32 points. Giroux had a down year and still beat the wheels off both of them. He had 50 points and finished second in team playoff scoring with 5 points in 6 games. He also got way less power-play time than Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson, the only forwards who beat him in scoring in 2024-25.

For Zetterlund and Perron to get to Giroux's level, they'll need to have a serious bounce-back. But why are we counting on a bounce-back season for them, but not for Giroux? 

It's certainly possible that Zetterlund and Perron may suddenly become better players than Giroux and frequently overtake him on the depth chart next season, and if the Sens believe that, they'll be trying to pay him accordingly right now. But the basic stats don't really support that projection.

If Giroux stays, and the Sens don't bring anyone else in, I tend to think he'll play his way right back into familiar territory, spending most of next season on one of the top two lines.

So it's fully understandable if Giroux and his agent are pushing back and wanting him to be paid like a top-six NHL forward. Because until this team adds more firepower, that's exactly what he is. 

Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

Would Kings Defenceman Jordan Spence Be A Fit With The Senators?
Should The Senators Have Surrendered This Year's First-Round Draft Pick Instead?
Senators Bring Back First-Rounder For Second Tour Of Duty
Rewriting The Draft: A Decade Of First-Round 'What-Ifs' for the Senators
Potential First-Round Draft Targets For The Ottawa Senators: Defenceman Blake Fiddler