Five years after being drafted in the first round with Brady Tkachuk, is Bernard-Docker finally ready for full-time NHL work?

The Senators have announced another RFA signing in the lead up to the July 1st free agent frenzy. They've signed defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker to a two year contract. The press release reads that the contract "has a value of $785,000, while the second holds a value of $825,000 in the National Hockey League."

If it seems like Bernard-Docker has been around for a long time, it's because he has. Like Brady Tkachuk, JBD was a first rounder in 2018, chosen 22 picks after the Sens captain. While Tkachuk has become an NHL all-star, Bernard-Docker is still trying to become an NHL full-timer. 

After being drafted, Bernard-Docker went to school at North Dakota for three seasons, where he was teammates with current Senators Jake Sanderson, Tyler Kleven and Shane Pinto. Bernard-Docker has now been a full-time pro the last two years, playing just 27 games in Ottawa the past two seasons.

The new contract isn believed to be a one-way deal, meaning Bernard-Docker will receive the same salary whether he's in the NHL or the AHL. If he gets sent down to the AHL again, he'll now have to clear waivers first.

"Jacob plays a simple and responsible puck-moving game," GM Pierre Dorion said in a club statement. "He's readily proved himself to be a reliable defender by playing on the penalty kill and in key matchup roles. We've been pleased to see him gradually improve throughout his time with the organization."

With Ottawa's defensive zone coverage so often looking disorganized the past few seasons, that blue line could use an infusion of "simple and reliable."

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