Batherson rang in the new year with a rare fight and hopes to carry his impressive December numbers into the new year.
The month of December has always been kind to Drake Batherson.
With seven goals and 16 points in 13 games during the month of December, only 16 players in the league recorded more points than Batherson.
“It’s hard to say,” Batherson said while trying to explain why he has historically played well in December. “(Christmas) is my favourite holiday. It could be the weather. There's no explanation for it, but it is a fun time to play with the World Juniors (tournament) going on. It's a hockey month.”
Whatever the reasons for the right winger’s torrid production, Batherson’s December has underscored what has been strong of a first-half. His 16 goals and 39 points trail only Tim Stützle on the team, despite Drake missing three games at the beginning of the season with a pulled upper-body muscle.
According to Natural Stat Trick’s five-on-five data, to date, the 2025-26 season is the best offensive season for Batherson. His goals per 60 minutes of ice time (G/60) and points per 60 minutes of ice time (Pts/60) rates represent career highs.
- 2020-21: 0.93 G/60, 1.44 Pts/60
- 2021-22: 1.08 G/60, 2.34 Pts/60
- 2022-23: 0.37 G/60, 1.52 Pts/60
- 2023-24: 1.02 G/60, 1.89 Pts/60
- 2024-25: 0.59 G/60, 1.66 Pts/60
- 2025-26: 1.15 G/60, 2.53 Pts/60
Batherson’s power play production rates represent some of his career bests as well, but it is worth noting that his all situations shooting percentage of 19.5 percent is also a career-high. As a career 13.3 percent shooter, it would be fair to assume that Drake’s rate would normalize over the course of the season. At the same time, with shooting percentages being up and save percentages being down across the league, that regression to his career norms may not be as severe.
The forward has enjoyed strong starts before. He was named the Senators’ representative for the 2022 NHL All-Star game before Buffalo Sabres goaltender Aaron Dell unexpectedly interfered with the forward, who was in on a forecheck pursuing the Sabres’ puck-carrying defenceman, Matthias Samuelsson, behind the net. Batherson crashed into the endboards, sustaining a high-ankle injury.
When asked about the key to maintaining this production into the second half of the year, Batherson reiterated the importance of taking things game by game.
“I try and enjoy the day-to-day process,” Batherson clarified. “If you have a good game, you don’t want to feel too high. You just can't let it get to your head. You just have to take it one day at a time and be hungry every night out there, doing whatever you can to help the team win.
“As far as any season, whether it's my first year or the end of my deal, I just want to be the best I can be. Once the season ends, I'm never satisfied. You can have a good year and think it's a great year, but once you get into that mindset, it slows you down. You're not as hungry to get better. For me, being around guys in the summer who've been doing it for so long, and they stay the same person and just as hungry. I try to stick to that (philosophy) and do the best I can.”
His improved play goes beyond the point production, however.
Drake, like the rest of the Senators’ core, has bought into the team’s structure and become more of a 200’ player. As importantly, the listed 6’3”, 210 lb winger has learned to use and incorporate his size into his game. When he is at his best, he’s engaged physically and disrupting the opposition by battling and separating players from the puck.
When asked by Sportsnet’s Alex Adams how Batherson’s game has developed in the season and a half that he has been in Ottawa, head coach Travis Green praised the forward's willingness to incorporate more physical elements to his game.
“The hardness and stiffness in his game,” Green explained. “His willingness to get to hard places and play more consistently like a power forward,” head coach Travis Green said. “Quite honestly, he's got enough size, he's strong in the puck, but he's grown a little bit in that area.”
What has impressed in recent weeks has been his line with Dylan Cozens. At times, they have played with Brady Tkachuk and David Perron, but irrespective of who the other winger has been, his line has done an excellent job getting pucks down low and creating zone time and chances off their cycle game.
The underlying metrics for each of these lines has been impressive:
- Perron-Cozens-Batherson: 126.2 TOI, 52.96 CF%, 50.91 SF%, 63.22 xGF%
- Tkachuk-Cozens-Batherson: 45.5 TOI, 60.81 CF%, 62.48 SF%, 56.86 xGF%
Whenever these lines have been on the ice, the Senators have outshot and outchanced the opposition, creating a sizable percentage of expected goals. If not for the Senators’ goaltending, the actual goal rates for these trios would be much, much higher.“
We did it as a line a bit of last year,” Batherson stated as he described his play with Cozens. “This year, it's something we talked about. We are just trying to get it in behind (the opposition).
“Our line has three guys that are pretty good on the walls and will protect the puck and kind of create (offensive) zone time that way. It is something we always talk about, but there is a lot of chatter out there with those two guys, too, which helps. (Brady and Cozens) are fun guys to play with.”
Batherson’s willingness to stand up for his teammates has also drawn attention.
During the Senators’ thrilling 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals on New Year’s Day, the Senators needed a response after Capitals forward Justin Sourdif hammered Thomas Chabot with a thunderous hit behind the Senators’ net.
Batherson answered the call.
“Seeing Drake jump in there and doing that (was incredible),” Chabot told reporters after the game. “I told him that he didn't have to do that. I blame myself for that one, but just to see him do that, all credit goes to him.
“We're a tight group in here. We'll stick with each other, and you know what that kind of (action) in my book turned the game around.”
It was a role Brady Tkachuk has been willing to serve over the years, but he has been forced to play with a wrapped hand after thumb ligament surgery. Part of his recovery process entails that he cannot fight until the wrap is gone and there is no threat of reaggravating his injury.
“Drake stepped up and did an awesome job,” the captain acknowledged through a smile. “He has done that in the past, and told him before, I’ve never been more proud of him for stepping up for the team like that.”
Add all of these elements to his production, and it is easy to recognize why this is such an important season for the 27-year-old.
The six-year contract that he signed in September of 2021 is in its second-last year. Even at the time of his signing, his $4.975 million average annual value felt like a bargain, and over time, that feeling has grown.
Relative to his cost, Batherson has become a productive and vital component of this team.
He has also been a model of consistency. Batherson played in every single one of the Senators’ games between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons, while averaging 25.3 goals and 65.3 points.
Drake is slated to hit unrestricted free agency at 29 years old. That blend of age and reliability will get a man paid.
An interesting wrinkle is that Batherson represents the first piece of the core that the Senators have developed during their rebuild who could potentially test free agency next year. Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot can follow at the conclusion of the 2027-28 season.
Batherson is no different from any other young player in the league. He understands the market and the money being given out to keep impending unrestricted free agents from testing the market.
“Obviously, with the way the cap is going now, there will be a lot more money out there for everybody,” Batherson said. “At the time, I would have taken (my current contract) 10 times over. We're pretty lucky to be doing what we're doing, and we are obviously paid very well. For me, I just love playing the game, no matter what I'm making.”
The NHL’s CBA will permit the Senators to open contract negotiations with Batherson as early as July 1st, but, as the first player with impending unrestricted free agency, his negotiations will represent the first foray into that next wave of player extensions for this core.
When asked whether he has considered the window for beginning negotiations opening later this year, Batherson admitted he has.
“Yeah, I’ve learned about it a little bit, but there's still a lot of room to go with another year and a half (before I’m a free agent). I'm sure the business will take care of itself, and if they want to keep me, they can keep me.”
Graeme Nichols is a freelancer covering the NHL's Ottawa Senators for The Hockey News, an ambassador for The Sens Foundation, and a co-host on the Coming in Hot Podcast.
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