Senators sign forward Claude Giroux to contract extension

The Senators and pending UFA Claude Giroux are “putting the finishing touches” on an extension, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. The Senators have since confirmed the deal. It’s a one-year contract with a base salary of $2M and up to an additional $2.75M in performance bonuses, while including a no-movement clause. The full bonus structure is as follows, per PuckPedia:

20 games played: $250K
30 games played: $250K
60 games played: $250K
Playoff berth + 50 RS GP: $250K
First round win: $500K
Second round win: $250K
East Final win: $500K
Stanley Cup win (50% of GP): $500K

Giroux, while in the twilight years of his career, still could have likely landed more than a $4.75M figure in maximum compensation on the open market, especially on a one-year deal. Instead, the 37-year-old will remain in Ottawa’s top nine forward group for another year as he looks to help guide the club to back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since 2012 and 2013.

While his offense has been in decline for a few years now, the 18-year NHLer remains an effective secondary scoring piece. He finished fifth on the Sens in scoring last year with a 15-35–50 line in 81 games. He still saw over 18 minutes per game, a number that will presumably drop by some next season. Despite spending most of his time on the wing, he was still Ottawa’s primary faceoff taker over frequent linemate Tim Stützle and won a team-leading 600 draws with a career-best 61.5% win rate.

His return, especially at an affordable base price, gives Ottawa one less roster spot to worry about while providing them with a tad more spending flexibility this summer than they previously anticipated. They have $8.2M in space remaining, according to PuckPedia, and no notable RFAs to re-sign. That money will presumably mostly go toward filling out their forward depth – they addressed their need for a right-shot defender yesterday by acquiring Jordan Spence from the Kings.

If he tested the market, Giroux would have been among the more desirable forward options still available, particularly after Sam Bennett’s and John Tavares’ extensions. He was No. 10 on our list of this summer’s unrestricted free agents.