Fans in Ottawa can finally take a breath as the star player on their team has agreed to stick it out for the long term. While it’s not the maximum eight-year deal Brady Tkachuk could have signed, his seven-year deal will be close enough for fans who wanted to see the stalemate between the player and the organization come to an end. He was the last restricted free agent left unsigned and sat out all of training camp.
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The extension is worth $57.5 million ($8.214M per season) and reports are that he did not receive any signing bonus money as part of the structure. In short, the Senators stayed firm and Tkachuk will not be the first player on the Senators roster to have a signing bonus outside of his entry-level contract.
The breakdown of the deal is as follows:
- 2021-22: $4m
- 2023-23: $6.5m
- 2023-24: $10.5m
- 2024-25: $10.5m
- 2025-26: $10.5m
- 2026-27: $8.5m
- 2027-28: $7m
Tkachuk led the Senators with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) in 56 games last season, along with 60 goals and 65 assists in 198 career NHL games. He will be the Senators’ key driver on offense for the next number of seasons. It was important the team get this deal done, but they were willing to wait out the player and make sure the organization got the number they wanted and the term they needed.
At just 22 years old, there is talk that Tkachuk might be considered the next captain of the team. The fourth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Tkachuk, has been as advertised and more and this deal should work out well for the Sens. If he can up his shooting percentage and improve his defensive play, he’ll be a much more well-rounded player.
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