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Going into today, 5 of the top 7 players from the 2018 draft didn’t have a contract for the coming season. Well that all changed today with Carolina signing Andrei Svechnikov to an 8 year/62 million dollar contract, with an AAV of 7.75 million.
When you look at his numbers, 205 games with 59G, 81A, 140 pts, they are comparable to Brady Tkachuk’s numbers in 198 games, with 60G, 65A, 125 pts. Now you are getting more from Tkachuk in terms of his overall game and what he brings to the table on a nightly basis. When I reported that Ottawa had tabled an offer of 6yrs/42 million with an AAV of 7 million, this deal is close to that just that it was for two more years. The bigger question is, can Ottawa get Tkachuk to give up 4 years of UFA status by signing for 8 years?! That is why I still feel Brady’s deal will be in the 6 year range, this way both sides benefit and it allows him to test the free agency market in his late 20’s.
As for Drake Batherson, I am told management would much rather a 3 year bridge deal for him versus a long term contract. Sens GM Pierre Dorion is not big on giving someone a big contract after just one solid NHL season. He has learned from the Colin White signing and for that matter the Zack Smith extension too! If I had to guess on the possible numbers for a bridge deal with Batherson, 3 years for 15 million. It would allow the Sens to see if he can keep progressing while it also gives Batherson a chance to prove his worth for a longer term deal in the future. You could have the cap hit escalate each year for his deal, 4 mil, 5 mil and then 6 million in the final year of the contract.
Still no word on the status of RFA’s Logan Brown or Filip Gustavsson.
PIerre McGuire was on tsn1200 yesterday, I had tweeted out to everyone to listen in, if you missed it give it a listen at tsn1200. Takeaways from the interview, no RFA player names were mentioned, conveniently, when McGuire was talking about a few players and their summer training. He went on to say how excited he was about being in Ottawa and that the future was bright. Again, have listen to it, but for the most part it was more of a Sens marketing interview in my opinion. But at least it was positive!
Lastly, Anthony Leblanc the president of business operations for the Sens was on tsn1200 this morning. I tweeted out the time of the interview so I hope you all get to listen in. He said how the team will allow 1,000 fans into the rookie game on Sept. 18th against Montreal. They are waiting on what the province will release for parameters on indoor gatherings and are hopeful they will increase what attendance can be at Canadian Tire Center. He also mentioned how the team will be doing live concerts pre and post-game at the rink, with some local acts and they will bring in some bigger acts too. The club is moving Club Red which has been at one of the entrances to the building since the arena opened back in 1996. If you didn’t hear the interview, you can catch it at tsn1200.com.
What do you think Sens fans, for that matter, all hockey fans when it comes to Tkachuk and Batherson’s possible contracts, now that one domino has finally fallen with the Svechnikov signing.
I have been working on two pieces the last few days, talking to different people in the hockey world, from media to former players, to other NHL executives. I will have one of them posted at some point tomorrow when I can nail down two more sources on a few potential trades that are being rumoured.
Thanks for reading! Kevin