After being invited to their camp on a PTO, something he had been hoping for this offseason, veteran forward Derick Brassard has indeed signed with the Ottawa Senators on a one-year deal, the team announced. This will officially mark Brassard’s second stint as a member of the Senators after playing for seven different teams since Ottawa dealt the forward during the 2017-18 season. According to Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff, the deal is worth $750,000.
The veteran Brassard finds himself on a growing list of players on PTO’s signing NHL contracts, following yesterday’s announcement of Zach Aston-Reese and Jimmy Vesey signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers, respectively. Ottawa had perhaps the loudest offseason of any team around the league, acquiring Alex DeBrincat and Cam Talbot, signing Claude Giroux, and extending Tim Stutzle and Joshua Norris, so Brassard’s signing might fly under the radar. Still, the team should be able to count on the 35-year-old to fill a key veteran role in their bottom-six.
This new role might be far removed from the one he previously occupied when the team acquired him from the Rangers in 2016, but that still doesn’t mean he will be without value. As Brassard said himself last week, he hopes he can play a similar role to the one Jason Spezza had been playing for the Maple Leafs, used in different spots in the lineup for different purposes night in and night out. It’s no doubt Spezza’s contributions were much appreciated in Toronto, and if Brassard can do something similar, it could be a quiet, yet valuable element to the continued development of this young Senators core.
Brassard said at the end of last season he was going to retire I believe, Tierney was waived yesterday he may have been a better option for Ottawa.
Tierney isn’t an NHL player anymore
Clearly didn’t watch Tierney play last year. Terrible
Finally for the first time in about 5 years the veteran they bring in isn’t a useless plug.
Stray DOG finds a home sleeping under the team bus.