Batherson secured an eight-year, $86 million extension, cementing his future in Ottawa just hours before league contract rules shifted.
In 2016, Drake Batherson was passed over completely in the NHL Draft.
Ten years later, he's now the highest-paid player in Ottawa hockey history.
The Senators announced on Tuesday morning that the club has signed him to an eight-year contract extension, which carries a $10.75 million AAV.
As far as eight-year deals go, the two sides took it right down to the wire, because Sept. 15 is the last day of the NHL's current collective bargaining agreement. As of tomorrow, seven years becomes the maximum term.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the deal also includes $30 million in bonuses, which Puckpedia.com lays out like this:
Yr 1-2: $6M Salary, $6M Signing Bonus
Yr 3: $5M,$6M SB
Yr 4: $9M,$2M SB
Yr 5-6: $7.5M,$3M SB
Yr 7-8: $7.5M,$2M SB
There's a full no-move in the first four years. The next three years switch to a modified 20-team no-trade clause, and the final year is 15 teams.
“Drake exemplifies what it is to be an Ottawa Senator,” GM Steve Staios said in a club press release. “He was drafted and developed by our organization and has shown a commitment to wanting to be in Ottawa long-term. We view him as a key part of our core group.”
That commitment is a huge deal right now for the club and its fan base, which just watched another captain leave the club this summer.
Staios let his hair down a little on social media early this morning, previewing today's big news with a playful video nod to Batherson's Lepine Apartment ads. As Batherson does in his commercials, Staios counted off his bicep curl reps using only the number 19.
Batherson is coming off the best season of his career, scoring 33 goals and 71 points. And while most of his teammates did not, Batherson also produced in this year's playoffs. In their first-round loss to Carolina, it could have been extra ugly without Batherson. The Sens scored only five goals in the entire series, but Batherson finished with three goals and an assist.
His salary is sure to shock some fans who are trying to get their heads around the big new money the league is doling out to its players.
Interestingly, the Washington Capitals handed Ryan Leonard almost the same deal on Tuesday morning, and he's played just one season in the league with 20 goals and 45 points. So Batherson's deal, in today's crazy NHL economy, isn't out of line at all.
Batherson made it clear to me back in late May that he wanted to stay and ideally get something done this summer before the season. He reiterated those comments at the club's annual golf tournament a week ago.
He's now scheduled to be a Senator through the 2034-2035 season, when he'll be 37 years old and should have enough tucked away for retirement.
He's come a long way from the undersized East Coast kid no one wanted ten years ago.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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