Senators, Xavier Bourgault Avoid Arbitration

The Ottawa Senators have come to terms on a new contract with one of their forward prospects, avoiding arbitration. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Senators have signed forward Xavier Bourgault to a one-year, $850K contract for the 2026-27 season. Additionally, Bourgault will earn a salary of $265K at the AHL level.

Bourgault, 23, has been part of the Senators organization for the past few years. The L’Islet, Quebec native was originally drafted with the 22nd overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, and traded to the Senators in 2024.

Although he has fallen short of his draft ranking, that’s not to say he shouldn’t have been viewed as a first-round pick at the time. By the 2021 NHL Draft, Bourgault had scored 60 goals and 131 points in 154 games for the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes, and followed up the draft with a 36-goal, 75-point performance in 43 games throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

Unfortunately, Bourgault was unable to showcase his offensive skills with the Oilers organization. In two years with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, Bourgault registered 21 goals and 54 points in 117 games with a +10 rating. Putting himself into change-of-scenery territory, he got exactly that when Edmonton traded him to Ottawa for a fresh start.

In his first year, playing with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, it was much of the same for Bourgault. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with 12 goals and 26 points in 61 games, failing to make any meaningful step forward.

Fortunately for him and the Senators organization, Bourgault finally put together a quality season at the AHL level. Throughout the 2025-26 season, Bourgault registered 25 goals and 57 points in 70 games for AHL Belleville with a -17 rating. Additionally, he got his first NHL call-up, going scoreless in two games with Ottawa.

Bourgault definitely has some maturing to do on the defensive side of the puck, but his 2025-26 performance was a positive step regardless. If he can get off to another quality start for the 2026-27 season, the Senators may be inclined to give him a longer look at the NHL level to add some scoring punch to their bottom-six.