Yesterday, Ottawa Senators general manager got a head start on the 2025 free agency with signing 23-year-old defenseman Tyler Kleven to a two-year extension with an AAV of $1.6 million.
Kleven improved his game in his first full season in Ottawa in the 2024-25 season and the 2025 playoffs with his defense and physicality. With being young and high potential still there, the Senators can look at Kleven as a player to be needed on the roster for years to come.
It was important for the Senators to lock Kleven up at a fair price for years to come. However, the Kleven extension could shape one area as a concern when 2027 arrives in two years.
Senators will have three current defensemen be free agents in 2027 after extending Kleven
Kleven's two-year extension will keep him on contract until 2027 as a restricted free agent. But, Kleven won't be the only other Senators defenseman who will be a free agent in 2027.
Both Artem Zub and Nikolas Matinpalo will be free agents with Kleven when the 2026-27 season ends. The only difference is both Zub and Matinpalo will be unrestricted free agents while Kleven will be a restricted free agent.
Kleven, Zub and Matinpalo can all be looked at as three important defensemen on the Senators roster.
At 29 years old, Zub has been a fan favorite in Ottawa for years. Zub's game is very similar to Kleven with defensive abilities. Having strong defensive defensemen together is an important thing to keep on the roster.
For Matinpalo at 26 years old, he got more playing time with the Senators this past season. Matinpalo signed a two-year extension after the playoffs at $875,000 per year. While Matinpalo has gotten less playing time than Zub and Kleven with playing in 45 career NHL games, Matinpalo got good experience in 2025.
Along with playing in 41 games in the 2024-25 regular season and all six games in the 2025 playoffs for the Senators, Matinpalo played for Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2025 IIHF World Championship. With the little NHL experience, the Senators hope Matinpalo grew his game and matured playing with and against the best for Team Finland which can help him develop quicker.
It can be uncertain to see if all three of Kleven, Zub and Matinpalo's will each get better over the next two seasons. If all three do, they each can demand a bigger contract from the Senators two years from now.
That is where the Senators could have the issue on which defenseman to pay and at what cost. Zub has a current cap hit of $4.6 million per year. While both Kleven and Matinpalo do have cheaper contracts moving forward, they could demand more money in the future if they both raise their game over the next two years.