Drake Batherson is the highest-paid player in Ottawa Senators history, and the timing of it was no accident. The 28-year-old right winger from New Minas, N.S., signed an eight-year, $86-million contract extension on Tuesday, Sept. 15, a deal the club pushed to complete before a new collective bargaining agreement took effect and closed the door on eight-year terms across the league.
The extension begins with the 2027-28 season and carries an average annual value of $10.75 million, according to the team’s announcement and NHL.com. Batherson is entering the final season of a six-year, $29.85-million contract he signed in September 2021, a deal that paid him $4.975 million a year.
Speaking to reporters at Canadian Tire Centre, Batherson framed the contract against a much smaller ambition he once held. “My dream was to play one game. It’s hard to believe I’m here where I’m at today,” he told TSN’s Claire Hanna. “The time and work I’ve put in and the passion I have about the game of hockey got me here and I’m thrilled to be doing what I’m doing. It’s a dream come true.”
He found out the night before, TSN reported, when his agent called while he was barbecuing with teammates Jake Sanderson and Stephen Halliday in Ottawa. “I paid for the steaks yesterday,” Batherson joked.
The deadline pressure was real. Under the new CBA that took effect Wednesday, Sept. 16, a player re-signing with his own team can go no longer than seven years, and six in free agency. CBC Sports reported that 33 players signed eight-year contracts since the league and the NHL Players’ Association reached the agreement in June 2025, with 12 of those coming in the final three months, including Colorado defenceman Cale Makar’s record $163.2-million extension. Batherson’s deal was announced the same morning as eight-year contracts for Washington’s Ryan Leonard and Buffalo’s Noah Ostlund.
Batherson said he never doubted it would land. “All along I had faith that it was going to get done. I never questioned it for one minute,” he told TSN. He also credited a rising salary cap and other signings around the league for shaping the number. “Once [Kirill] Kaprizov and [Leo] Carlsson started getting paid it just kind of gradually rose for me,” he said. “Ultimately, I just wanted to get a deal done before camp, whatever the number was, and be here with these guys and not have a distraction going into the season.”
The on-ice case built steadily. Selected 121st overall by Ottawa in the fourth round of the 2017 draft after going unselected in his first year of eligibility, Batherson has 364 points (149 goals, 215 assists) in 470 regular-season games, all with the Senators. He set career highs last season with 33 goals and 71 points in 79 games, then added three goals and an assist in four playoff games. Since his first full NHL season in 2020-21 he ranks second on the club with 141 power-play points, behind only Tim Stutzle, and he led Ottawa with 30 power-play points last year.
“Drake exemplifies what it is to be an Ottawa Senator,” general manager Steve Staios said in the team release. “He was drafted and developed by our organization and has shown a commitment to wanting to be in Ottawa long term. We view him as a key part of our core group.” Head coach Travis Green struck a similar note the following day. “He’s going to be a Senator for a long, long time,” Green said, per NHL.com. “You don’t get a contract like that if you’re not” a really good player.
Batherson, who trains in Nova Scotia during the off-season alongside Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, was asked whether he had ever pictured out-earning Crosby. “No, and I definitely don’t deserve to make more money,” he said, per TSN.
He now joins Sanderson, Stutzle, Shane Pinto and Dylan Cozens as Senators signed through at least the end of the 2029-30 season. Asked why he wanted to stay, he pointed past the roster. “Ever since 2017 when I walked into development camp, it’s all the same medical guys, equipment guys, still here today. It’s really felt like a family,” he said. “Everyone in this city outside of hockey, people I’ve met playing golf with, it’s just felt like home.”
Ottawa opened training camp on Thursday, Sept. 17.
Sources: Ottawa Senators / NHL.com, NHL.com, TSN, CBC Sports.
