{"id":7098,"date":"2025-07-19T03:27:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T03:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/7098\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T03:27:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T03:27:04","slug":"senators-re-sign-xavier-bourgault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/7098\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Re-Sign Xavier Bourgault"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Senators have reached an agreement with one of their remaining restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link<\/a>) that they\u2019ve signed forward Xavier Bourgault<\/a> to a one-year, two-way deal.\u00a0 The contract will pay Bourgault $775K in the NHL and $90K in the minors.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by Edmonton back in 2021, going 22nd overall after showing some offensive promise with QMJHL Shawinigan.\u00a0 In his final three seasons with the Cataractes, Bourgault potted 89 goals and 97 assists in 135 games, providing some enthusiasm that he could be a cost-controlled contributor for an Oilers roster that certainly could use that.<\/p>\n

However, Bourgault wasn\u2019t able to produce anywhere near those numbers with AHL Bakersfield.\u00a0 After a respectable rookie season in 2022-23 that saw him record 34 points in 62 games, his output dipped the following year to just eight goals and 12 assists in 55 outings.\u00a0 That was enough for GM Stan Bowman to decide to make a change, dealing Bourgault to Ottawa that summer along with prospect Jake Chiasson<\/a> for winger Roby Jarventie<\/a> and a fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n

Bourgault spent last season with AHL Belleville and was able to rebound a bit, notching 12 goals and 14 assists in 61 games.\u00a0 While that wasn\u2019t enough to match or surpass his rookie-season output, it was enough to earn him a qualifying offer last month.\u00a0 Bourgault didn\u2019t take it, instead foregoing a bit of a higher potential NHL salary in exchange for a slight raise in his AHL pay.<\/p>\n

Bourgault will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season.\u00a0 While a player with his type of numbers generally wouldn\u2019t be a candidate to be claimed, his draft pedigree might be enough for a team or two to at least ponder giving him a look, assuming he doesn\u2019t break camp with Ottawa in training camp which is the likeliest scenario.\u00a0 Assuming he makes it back to Belleville, he\u2019ll look to position himself to get his first regular season recall.<\/p>\n

With Bourgault\u2019s signing, Ottawa now has three remaining restricted free agents to re-sign this summer: forward Jan Jenik<\/a> and defensemen Donovan Sebrango<\/a> and Max Guenette<\/a>.<\/p>\n