One of the intriguing storylines over the next couple of years is what happens between the Senators and captain Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk is two years away from unrestricted free agency, which has prompted all kinds of discussion across the league about his future and his next contract. But what of Claude Giroux? Giroux is two weeks away from unrestricted free agency and still doesn't have a new contract. Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy discuss on Sens Nation how the NCAA eligibility rules can complicate NHL Draft evaulation. The popular veteran probably isn't feeling the love from the Senators right now. Sure, some might argue that there's still plenty of time. After all, last summer, he didn't re-sign until June 29th. But that was a transitional deal, a big change from the three-year, $19.5M UFA contract he needed to be wooed to Ottawa, and into a one-year deal filled with veteran performance bonuses, which probably took more time to hammer out. On the other hand, this summer's deal should take no more work than grabbing G's 2025 contract, changing the year to 2026, and taking a stroll over to the photocopier. Giroux was obviously content with last year's arrangement and then went out and put up identical numbers. In 2024-25, he recorded 15 goals, 35 assists and 50 points in 81 games while leading the entire league in faceoff win percentage. In 2025-26, he recorded 14 goals, 35 assists and 49 points in 82 games while leading the entire league in faceoff win percentage. Giroux has already confirmed he wants to continue playing at 38, and at year's end, he made no secret that he loves the Senators. "The guys in that locker room, I love spending time with those guys," Giroux said. "They make it fun coming to the rink, and they definitely keep me young, and being around them is... I feel very lucky." Giroux did miss out on some of his bonuses because they were tied to playoff success. But you'd have to think his optimism in that area would be just as high as it was last summer. So if both sides want this, and there's a one-year contract template sitting right there, shouldn't this be the easiest negotiation ever? But maybe the Senators aren't sure they do want this. Maybe, as they try to get better, they're entertaining other ideas, younger ideas, knowing that they'll soon have to turn the page on Giroux no matter what. Maybe they want to see how they fare in free agency first. Maybe, as everyone continues to celebrate the speed of this year's playoffs, they have concerns about Giroux's skating speed. According to NHL Edge, his top skating speed this season was 21.84 miles per hour, which puts him below the 50th percentile. But that's not much behind the 21.91 he put up in 2021-22. As every fan knows, there's a lot more to Giroux's game than pure straight-line speed. His defensive awareness, vision, passing, edge work, positioning, game intelligence and leadership all remain excellent. But maybe the Sens see it differently. That's a lot of maybes. But if any of them are on the nose, and Giroux isn't feeling like he's a priority, then maybe he's starting to think about other ideas too. I think I read somewhere that he was once a pretty big deal in Philadelphia, for example, which is suddenly a playoff team again. This is where a future Hall of Famer's thoughts might drift when, almost two months into the offseason, what seemed to be the easiest signing in the world still hasn't happened. By Steve Warne The Hockey News Will Senators Enforcer Kurtis MacDermid Be Back With Ottawa Next Season? [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/3739a598-4efc-4fa4-bafe-b830e2ab0f12.jpeg] Will Senators Enforcer Kurtis MacDermid Be Back With Ottawa Next Season? The veteran heavyweight barely played in the second half of last season, leading to speculation about his future in Ottawa. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/will-senators-enforcer-kurtis-macdermid-be-back-with-ottawa-next-season]
