Ottawa Senators: Three players that need long-term contract extensions
The Ottawa Senators have seven RFA’s going into the 2020 offseason, six of whom with arbitration rights. These three players should be a high priority for the Senators to extend long-term.
Connor Brown:
It seems Connor Brown is finally hitting his stride, because of more opportunity and less pressure playing in Ottawa. He’s become an important part of the Senators present and hopefully future, with his play on the ice.
An offensive dynamo during his time with the Erie Otters, he didn’t reach anywhere near his potential playing under stars Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander in Toronto.
In his three full seasons with the Maple Leafs, Brown posted point totals of 36, 28 and 29 respectively. Cementing his role as a perfect bottom-six energy guy to supplement the scoring from the big guns upfront.
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The Senators had other ideas for the 26-year old Toronto native, he was shipped to Ottawa as part of a bigger package including Nikita Zaitsev and Michael Carcone. The Leafs received Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, Aaron Luchuk and a third-round pick in the 2020 draft.
He set career highs in assists and points this year in a top-six offensive role, with 16 goals and 43 points in 71 games, for second on the Sens in scoring.
Brown more than deserves a long-term contract for the commitment and sacrifice he makes on a nightly basis. Pierre Dorion should be considering giving him a six-year contract with significant AAV.
Chris Tierney:
There isn’t a more perfect third-line centre in the league than Chris Tierney.
He’s a fantastic penalty killer and puts up more points than most third liners in the league. This year however he was thrust into a more significant role on the team, because of the lack of talent up front, and he did pretty well considering the circumstances.
While it may not show up on his stats, he is one of the most hard-working players on the Ottawa Senators right now. He gives a lot of heart every single shift and is a great player to keep for the future.
At 25-years old he’s still got many years left in the tank and will be a valuable player to have in the future as he is very sound defensively.
He won’t be too expensive will likely get paid in the $3.5-4.5 million range on a 3-6 year contract, which is totally worth it for a third-liner who can play smartly in all three zones and will stabilize your penalty kill.
Anthony Duclair:
This is an interesting one, as he’s found himself on his fifth team in only 5 years in the NHL. Early on in the year, it seemed the Senators had struck gold in the rough when “The Duke” was scoring at a 40-goal pace.
Anthony Duclair has made Ottawa his home and should be here for a while unless he’s demanding too much money, it would certainly make sense for him to be extended long-term.
It was definitely an up-and-down year for the Quebec native, but he finished with a solid 23 goals and 40 points in 66 games played. He has top-ten goal-scoring upside, but he also tends to go on extended goal droughts.
The definition of a high-risk high-reward player it’s time for the Ottawa Senators management to start taking some risks and signing Duclair long-term should be a priority.