Ah, Drake Batherson. One year, he’s panned as the Ottawa Senators’ worst playoff performer. The next, he’s scoring 60% of his team’s playoff goals. What an enigma.

A clear-cut top-six forward who hit career highs in goals (33) and points (71) this past season, held back by the occasional lapse away from the puck, and inconsistency in production, while still on a bargain of a contract with a cap hit of under $5M.

Said bargain, however, will no longer be the case on July 1st next year – Batherson needs a new contract, and it would most definitely be the richest deal the Sens have ever handed out. This is where discussions about Ottawa’s top winger become a lot more interesting – what can he realistically ask for? Is it a greater risk to pay that salary, or to let him walk?

The best way to replace a pending UFA who’s likely already played his best hockey, is internally, through the draft. Unfortunately, the Senators not only whiffed on the 10th overall pick of the 2021 draft, they also threw away the 7th pick in 2022, the 12th pick in 2023, and six 2nd-rounders across six years in the Pierre Dorion era. Steve Staios’ efforts to rebuild the prospect pool have largely focused on defencemen, and while this year’s picks have the high upside we’ve been looking for, they’re realistically 4-5 years out. Ottawa’s best chance of a player stepping in to replace Batherson from within is Kasper Halttunen, but that alone doesn’t inspire nearly enough confidence to move forward without him.

Replacing Batherson through unrestricted free agency is also a fruitless exercise. Looking ahead to July 2027, the only forwards available that are as good as or better than him are Nikita Kucherov, Mark Stone, and Alex DeBrincat. Kucherov and Stone are virtual locks to re-sign in Tampa and Vegas, respectively, and we know DeBrincat has zero interest in playing in Ottawa. Though he did say he wanted to go to Detroit to “play playoff hockey”, so who knows?

Replacing him through trade is certainly possible, but the target would need to be a player with team control, and a good reason (cap crunch, player isn’t re-signing with current club, team is rebuilding, etc.) for being traded.

Kirill Marchenko would be a great fit in Ottawa – low cap hit this year, and sources say he isn’t re-signing more than a one-year deal in Columbus next year. If he’d entertain a long-term stay in the nation’s capital, you could potentially work out a deal to move Batherson for significant assets, and adding a few of your own pieces to create a package for Marchenko. But even amidst the many rumors, he’s a player who has been stated by the Blue Jackets to be unavailable for trade.

Staios won’t make a move unless he’s certain the fit with Ottawa makes sense, so who knows if there will even be a viable option available? It therefore makes sense for the Sens to stick with the devil they know instead of the one they don’t – by locking up Batherson long-term, even if he realistically isn’t worth the money.

This post is for paying subscribers only
Subscribe now

Already have an account? Sign in