Following their elimination in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there have been numerous changes made by Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman as he works to not only get the club back to where they feel they should be, but also to maximize the wind that captain Connor McDavid has while under contract during the next two seasons.
And while the Oilers have made a handful of additions to their roster, including Frederik Andersen, Devon Levi, Mathieu Joseph, and Eduards Tralmaks, they’ve been linked to an interesting top forward from a Canadian rival who is said to currently be in a contract standoff.
Edmonton Oilers Named A Potential Landing Spot For Ottawa Senators Forward Drake Batherson
Right now, the Senators, who traded away captain Brady Tkachuk to the divisional rival Florida Panthers, are anything but a guarantee to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs next spring for what would be a third straight season.
Right now, they’re in a contract standoff with forward Drake Batherson, who is entering the final season of his current contract that carries a salary cap hit of just under $5 million.
According to Tyler Yaremchuk while speaking on the Oilers Nation Everyday podcast, Edmonton is a potential landing spot for Batherson to be moved to if the Senators don’t get off to a good start in 2026-27 and GM Steve Staios, a former Edmonton defenseman, feels that he won’t get him signed to a new pact.
“The new name has emerged on my list of wingers the Oilers could acquire midseason,” Yaremchuk explained.
He continues by touting his pending UFA status as an ideal reason why he’d be a good fit for the Oilers.
“The criteria is a good player on a team that could be bad and have to sell, pending UFA,” he said.
Not only is his current salary cap hit very manageable, but Batherson did tally a career-best 33 goals for the Senators last season.
“This dude rips off 20 goals in his sleep every year,” Yaremchuk said. “If the Senators aren’t going to sign him, and the Senators might be worse than they expect this year, giddy up. That’s the guy.”
Finally, he concluded by saying that Batherson would look good playing on the wing of McDavid.
“Not much of a possession driver, which actually would be quite good, especially on McDavid’s wing,” he said.
Drake Batherson Is In A Contract Standoff With The Senators
Batherson, who is a pending unrestricted free agent after next season, reportedly isn’t close to agreeing to a new contract according to a recently released report from Senators Insider Bruce Garrioch.
Since being chosen in the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft, Batherson has spent his entire professional career with Ottawa. He broke into the NHL during the 2018-19 campaign, recording nine points in 20 appearances, while also enjoying a productive season in the AHL with Belleville, where he tallied 62 points in 59 games.
So far in his career, Batherson has suited up for 479 regular-season contests and has 149 goals and 215 assists for 364 points, along with 197 penalty minutes. He has also scored four goals and two assists in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
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