Senators sign Xavier Bourgault to one-year deal
After eligible players and teams filed to use the arbitration process to secure contracts for restricted free agents earlier this week, the first pre-arbitration settlement between two parties has surfaced.
The Ottawa Senators have signed forward Xavier Bourgault to a one-year, two-way contract that, according to Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, comes with a salary of $850,000 at the NHL level and $265,000 in the minor leagues.
The contract alleviates the need to follow through on the arbitration process after Bourgault’s side filed for the negotiation mechanism.
Bourgault, a first-round pick at No. 22 overall in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, took a massive leap forward in terms of his production at the AHL level this past season.
After putting up 26 points in 61 games played with Belleville in 2024-25, the Quebec native potted 25 goals and dished out 32 assists for 57 points in 70 regular season games. Those marks were good enough to put him second on the team in all three offensive categories.
Bourgault made his NHL debut this season, appearing in two games without recording a point as Ottawa strung together its second consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in a four-game sweep in the first round.
It has been a tumultuous offseason in Canada’s capital, but the Senators remain a young team on the rise despite the departure of captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster trade that only netted Ottawa draft picks in return.
General manager Steve Staios flipped the most valuable of those picks, the No. 9 overall selection in June’s draft, to the San Jose Sharks to land William Eklund and fill the void left in the top six by Tkachuk’s departure.
Claude Giroux ultimately opted to return to his hometown team in unrestricted free agency, and a contract extension for emerging defenseman Jordan Spence provides further reason for optimism around the team.