The Ottawa Senators have announced one-year, two-way contracts for minor-league forwards Rourke Chartier, Josh Currie, and Bokondji Imama. All three players will earn $775K at the NHL level; in the minors, Chartier will earn $300K, Currie will earn $275K, and Imama will earn $325K. The team later announced two more contracts: forward Matthew Highmore at $775K in the NHL and $400K in the AHL, and forward Garrett Pilon at $775K in the NHL and $200K in the AHL.
Chartier, now 27, stays in the organization after a pair of strong seasons with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. The 2014 fifth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks appeared in six NHL games for Ottawa last season, his first since he scored a goal in 13 games with the Sharks in 2019. Currie, 30, is making his return to North America after spending two seasons with the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, where he recorded 13 goals and 38 points in 96 games. Imama, 26, was a fan favorite in the Arizona Coyotes organization for the past two seasons and replaces Scott Sabourin’s role in the Ottawa organization as their minor-league enforcer with NHL experience (Sabourin signed with the Sharks today).
As for the team’s subsequent signings, Highmore, 27, finished second on the AHL’s Springfield Thunder in scoring last season with 61 points in 68 games but was a full-time NHLer as recently as 2021-22 with the Vancouver Canucks. The 25-year-old Pilon is coming off a Calder Cup win with the AHL’s Hershey Bears and has 156 points in 259 career AHL games.