Ottawa Senators Re-Sign Milan Michalek
Apparently Milan Michalek didn’t like what he saw on the open market. After being able to talk to any team in the league for a week, Michalek was re-signed by the Ottawa Senators for 3 years, $12M.
The re-signing happened about an hour after the Jason Spezza trade to the Dallas Stars, which might lead some conspiracy theorists to speculate as to whether GM Bryan Murray had the deal in his pocket in order to soften the blow of the Spezza deal.
More from Free Agency
- Joonas Korpisalo: The Solution To The Senators’ Goaltending Problem
- Potential Centre Targets For The Ottawa Senators
- Duclair’s demands don’t change the fact the Sens fumbled the situation
- Connor Brown: Core Player Or Short Term Fixture in Ottawa?
- Ottawa Senators: Move or Keep Anthony Duclair?
Michalek will take a pay cut, with a cap hit of $4M after being the highest paid player on the Senators last year at $6M ($4.33 cap hit). He played a full season for the first time in a while, but his production was down in all areas.
It remains to be seen how much Michalek has left in the tank, playing on some iffy knees and he hasn’t shown much ability to generate offense without Jason Spezza as his pivot.
Is he still a top 6 forward or is he simply a penalty killer with speed? That is the main question in my mind going forward as the Senators look for a new identity. They will need Michalek to generate at least 25 goals given the current state of the team if Ottawa is going to show any sign of competitiveness.