If the Ottawa Senators want to put an end to their struggles and make it to the postseason, they’ll need to enlist the help of everyone on the team. In my last piece, I focused on what I thought were the best-valued contracts for the Senators going into next season. In this article, I look at the other side and look at buyouts, retained salaries and contracts that could hurt the Senators this season and later on.
The Senators don’t have as many horrible contracts on their books as some other teams do. However, a whole article could be written about the players on the Senators’ payroll that aren’t on the team anymore.
Mathieu Joseph
After evaluating the contracts on this team, it seems like this is the worst deal, despite it not dragging the Senators down. General manager Pierre Dorion has done a good job cleaning the house. However, the next candidate — if Dorion wanted to clear one more contract out — could be Mathieu Joseph, though I think he’s also a bounce-back candidate for the Sens next season.
After being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning around the 2022 trade deadline in return for Nick Paul, Joseph impressed with his four goals and 12 points in 11 games to close off that season. This performance earned him a four-year, $11.8 million contract, but the first year of that deal didn’t turn out as well for him. Not only did he only put up three goals and 18 points in 56 games, but he was also injured at times. He notably got scratched for a non-hockey issue in a game that would’ve seen him face off against his brother Pierre-Olivier in front of dozens of friends and family members. Luckily he took accountability for his mistake, which is not something everyone does.
Related: Revisiting Senators’ Joseph and Paul Trade 1 Year Later
With the past being the past, it’s time to look ahead and hope Joseph can bounce back. He has the offensive tools to do it and will be surrounded by more offensive talent than last year, so the chances are on his side. But if he underperforms again, could we see him and his contract get dumped to another team? Otherwise, could we see his name within the list of players under the next subheading?
Buyouts, Buyouts, Buyouts
In the 2013 offseason, former Sens general manager Bryan Murray made a splash by acquiring former second-overall pick Bobby Ryan for a first-round draft pick, Jakob Silfverberg and Stefan Noesen. Ryan had four straight seasons with at least 30 goals, which earned him a seven-year, $50.75 million extension.
Unfortunately for both Ryan and the Senators, his play was going downhill due to troubles off the ice, which led to his buyout in 2020. They’ll have to pay him around $1.83 million this season. It was a sad ending for Ryan and the Sens, but his inspirational return led to one of the most memorable moments for fans in recent years.
The two other buyouts on the Sens payroll are Michael Del Zotto and Colin White. Del Zotto played one season for the Senators before getting bought out of his two-year, $4 million contract. He is owed $750,000 this season. For Colin White, his deal was a risk taken by Dorion that didn’t end well. White, a former Sens first-round pick, had the potential to become a solid middle-six forward. For this reason, he earned a six-year, $28.5 million contract that would see him earning a total of $4.75 million a season. White was bought out only after the third season of the deal, which means that he’ll account for $875,000 of this season’s cap space.
Matt Murray and Dead Cap This Season
Before the start of the 2020 NHL season, the Senators acquired two-time Stanley Cup Champion Matt Murray in hopes of fixing the team’s goaltending problems. Given his pedigree, Dorion wasted no time in signing him to a four-year, $25 million contract.
After two injury-plagued seasons with the Sens, the now 29-year-old was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, alongside a third-round draft pick in the 2023 draft, to clear some cap space. In the trade, the Senators had to retain just over $1.5 million per year of Matt Murray’s salary. The whole Matt Murray situation was a gamble that didn’t pay off for the Sens, but they didn’t come out of it too badly.
After an overview of the team’s contract, one thing stands out: Ottawa’s dead cap amount accounts for just over $5 million in cap space this season. Luckily, none of the roster players on the team have atrocious contracts. But that money could’ve been used to acquire a quality player or two. It’s still an unfortunate situation, given the Senators are gunning hard for the postseason. But on the bright side, Dorion has still managed to build a competitive team.
