Senators Need to Be Open to Trading Drake Batherson – The Hockey Writers – Ottawa Senators

Few things could upset Ottawa Senators fans more than the team announcing they had traded Drake Batherson. The Nova Scotian has spent his entire career with the Senators since he was drafted in 2017 and is one of the players who can fill in on the top line after Brady Tkachuk’s departure this summer. Losing him would plunge the rest of the roster into chaos.

However, Batherson is looking for an extension for 2027-28, and according to Bruce Garrioch in the Ottawa Citizen, “League sources don’t believe Batherson and the Senators are close to a deal at this time” (from “Gap remains between Batherson, Senators as Sept. 15 deadline looms large,” Ottawa Citizen – 17/08/2026). While it’s still early in the negotiation process, it’s not a good sign that the two sides are already at odds, and as we’ve seen with other stars, things can quickly get ugly.

The good news is that, if the Senators decide that trading him is the best path forward, the team could get a massive return, especially if a deal happens this season. That could be the ticket to push Ottawa from a fringe playoff team to a legitimate contender, even if it means losing one of the most likeable players on the team.

Does Batherson Deserve the Senators’ Biggest Contract?

The biggest reason the Senators and Batherson’s camps are at odds is where his projected salary will put him among the team’s top salaries. NHL teams generally like to have their best player be their highest earner, and in Ottawa, that title currently belongs to Tim Stutzle, who has a cap hit of $8.35 million, followed by Linus Ullmark’s $8.25 million cap hit and Jake Sanderson’s $8.05 million. There is no debate that those three players are the Senators’ three best players.

Meanwhile, Batherson is looking at least at a $10 million extension. Adrian Kempe, Batherson’s closest comparable, finished last season with 36 goals and 73 points before signing an eight-year, $10.625 million extension with the Los Angeles Kings. Alex Tuch, another similar player to Batherson, signed an eight-year, $10.5 million deal with the Washington Capitals after a 33-goal, 66-point season with the Buffalo Sabres. Batherson finished last season with 33 goals and 71 points, and although it was his first 70-point season, he’s also the youngest of the three at 28.

It’s widely accepted that the Senators’ young stars have some of the best value contracts in the NHL, and Batherson could be seen in a similar light in the future, especially if he continues to improve his point total. The Senators can also afford to give him his $10 million extension. The team currently has roughly $4.2 million in cap space, and next season, that jumps up to $40.5 million.

The problem is that the stats aren’t on his side. Typically, a player’s production begins to decline after 30. That’s just two years away for Batherson, so if they want him to sign for another eight seasons, they have to make sure that he doesn’t become an anchor when the rest of the team is hitting its prime. With a Stanley Cup window just starting to open, that might be a bigger risk than needed.

Senators Could Avoid Another Headache

It’s worth considering the incredible headache that Tkachuk became in the final year of his time in Ottawa. He was a no-show during the Senators’ playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, a constant distraction with his podcast, and, according to Garrioch, had told his teammates that he had no intention of re-signing in Ottawa, despite his constant reassurances that he wasn’t going anywhere. Head coach Travis Green was mad when he first learned of the request, and recently, Sid Seixseiro went on a tirade about why the Senators shouldn’t give Tkachuk a tribute video.

Drama has surrounded Tkachuk from the day he joined the team, and now the Senators are finally free from it. So, why would they plunge themselves into another battle immediately after getting out of one?

Contract disagreements are nothing new, but when they drag on, it usually ends badly. The Senators know this all too well; Alexei Yashin’s first contract dispute came just three years into his career and foreshadowed his 1999 holdout. Even Tkachuk had his own contract issues back in 2021, signing at the last possible moment before the season began.

The deadline to sign an eight-year extension is Sep. 15, 2026, before the new Collective Bargaining Agreement activates, limiting extensions to just seven years and free agent deals to six. It’s in Batherson’s best interest to sign earlier rather than later, since he could make more money in the long run instead of gambling with shorter-term contracts. But if the two sides remain at odds up to that deadline, there’s reason to believe that it might not improve before he becomes a free agent.

Batherson Could Bring in a King’s Ransom

Even though Batherson’s production has statistically peaked, and there is the potential to enter into a long, drawn-out contract battle that could end ugly, the Senators still want to keep him on the team.

“There’s no secret that we want to get Drake Batherson signed,” said general manager Steve Staios in the Ottawa Citizen. “That conversation is ongoing with Drake, and it takes two sides to come to a deal. But there’s been good dialogue as we move forward. He’s a homegrown talent. It’s a great story. He continues to get better, and we feel like we have a very great, strong, contending team with a chance to win. We want him to be a part of it.”

However, if the Senators decide to move on, this season will be the best time to trade Batherson. Not only is he set to put up another 30 goals and 70 points, but he also is a first-line right winger who has a cap hit under $5 million. That is almost worth its weight in gold.

Just look at Tkachuk, who brought in the ninth and 25th overall picks in 2026, a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2029, and a second-round pick in 2027. The ninth overall selection was used to acquire William Eklund, who will easily replace Tkachuk’s offence, plus goal-scoring prospect Kasper Halttunen and defensive-minded Brandon Svoboda. The Senators then selected Jonas Lagerberg Hoen with the 25th pick, who is looking like another top-tier goal-scorer.

Using that as a rough model, Batherson put up 11 more goals and 12 more points, yet costs more than $3 million less than his former captain. He’s been far more valuable to the Senators than their captain over the past couple of seasons, especially in the playoffs, where he led the Senators with four points in four games. Multiple first-round picks feel like a minimum, especially since Batherson doesn’t have a no-movement clause in his current deal.

Trading Batherson is still a last resort. The Senators are better with him, and since they already lack one top-line winger, it doesn’t make sense to move their other one. But situations can fall apart quickly, and if they do, there’s never been a better time to see what someone like Batherson would fetch on the open market.