Game Day- Senators Host Hurricanes (Plus Methot Signs Four Year Extension)

SensChirp February 16, 2015 1,301
Game Day- Senators Host Hurricanes (Plus Methot Signs Four Year Extension)

After months of discussion, the Ottawa Senators have finally reached an agreement with defenceman Marc Methot.

It’s a four year contract extension with a cap hit of $4.9 million a season.  The cap hit ends up being a little bit higher than the Senators had originally planned but the term is a little bit shorter.  Methot will earn $4.9 million in each of the four seasons and also gets a modified no trade clause.  It’s a great compromise between the two sides. Since returning to the Ottawa line up on a regular basis, Methot has helped to stabilize Ottawa’s blueline and certainly improved the game of Sens’ Captain Erik Karlsson.

Both Bryan Murray and Pierre Dorion deserve a ton of credit on this one.  This negotiation had the potential to go off the rails after an ugly summer but in the end, they are able to find a way to get it done and at a great value for the organization.  At the same time, Marc Methot takes a bit of a hometown discount in order to stay in Ottawa long term.

This Methot contract has been a bit of a distraction most of the season so to have him locked up well in advance of the trade deadline is great news for the player and for the organization.

***

Let’s just add the line combinations to this post and keep the discussion about the Methot contract going.

The Senators are on the ice for their morning skate ahead of tonight’s tilt with the Carolina Hurricanes.

With Pageau in Binghamton and Shane Prince called up and ready to make his NHL debut, Dave Cameron will only make minor changes to his forward combinations. On defence, it looks like Mark Borowiecki will take a turn as the healthy scratch.  Here’s how Cameron has his team lined up at the morning skate.

Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan
Michalek-Turris-Stone
MacArthur-Lazar-Chiasson
Prince-Legwand-Condra

Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Cowen-Gryba

Robin Lehner makes another start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM with the game available on TSN5.