Pierre Dorion has one major item left on his off-season To Do List.
Okay maybe there’s two. The first is to make a long-term contract offer that ensures that Thomas Chabot will remain in Ottawa for the next nine seasons. Technically, he has some time on that front.
The more pressing item, the one that needs to be sorted out before the start of the upcoming season, is a new contract for Colin White.
A restricted free agent (sort of), White is the last player left unsigned heading into the 2019/2020 season.
And he’s a pretty important player. Based on early projections, it seems like a slam dunk that White plays on one of the team’s top two forward lines.
White is coming off a breakout season. After bouncing between Belleville and Ottawa the year before, White finally solidified his spot in the Sens line up.
In what was technically his rookie campaign, White put up an impressive 14 goals and 41 points. He was 7th in goals, 3rd in assists and 5th in points among all NHL rookies.
Not a bad start for the now 22 year old first round pick.
While his projected offensive ceiling likely isn’t much higher than that, regular 20 goal/50 points seasons certainly isn’t out of the question.
The Senators now have to decide what to do with his next contract.
About a week ago, Bruce Garrioch suggested that this one could drag on a bit. Not a huge surprise because we know the Senators love to squeeze every ounce of RFA leverage they can in these situations.
On paper and in normal organizations, White seems like a prime candidate for a longer term gamble. Pay a little more now in hopes that you can save a bit on his contract down the road. But as we know, recently anyway, that really isn’t how the Senators have approached this situations.
Which is why a bridge deal (likely 2 years) feels like the most logical outcome.
He’ll certainly get a raise over his entry-level numbers but on a two year contract, they can likely keep the average somewhere close to $2.5 mil.
What’s your prediction for Colin White’s next contract?
Anybody guesses the exact terms and the day the contract gets signed and you get two tickets to opening night! (That’s supposed to be a prize, by the way).
Keep in mind, we know he’s in town this week.
