The Ottawa Senators have joined in on the signing fun, inking Tom Pyatt to a two-year deal worth $2.2MM. Pyatt was set to become an unrestricted free agent but apparently thought enough of the Senators to not push his luck on the open market. His $1.1MM salary is a $300K raise over last season, and the deal is no longer two-way.
Pyatt played in all 82 games for the Senators this season, finding a home after two years spent playing in the Swiss professional league. Registering 23 points while contributing mostly in a defensive role, Pyatt is a veteran of Guy Boucher’s system going back to their days together in Tampa Bay. The 30-year old forward will return for a reasonable salary, which will help the Senators as they continue to operate under an internal cap.
The Senators have several other UFAs to make decisions on, including Tommy Wingels and Viktor Stalberg. Chris Neil, long-time pest will not be retained by the club. With just around $13MM under the league cap, it’s unclear exactly how much more money the Senators have to spend. With restricted free agents like Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau needing qualifying offers by tonight, they’ll have to spend their remaining funds carefully this summer.
Pyatts not great but he’s the kind of player that will get chances under Boucher because he’s a good team player. I would’ve rather it had been stalberg brought back into the bottom lines but he’s probably gonna get more in free agency.