Senators sign Tarasenko to 1-year, $5M deal

The Ottawa Senators inked Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5-million contract, the club announced Thursday.

Tarasenko was an unrestricted free agent. His new pact includes a full no-trade clause.

Other teams - including the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, and San Jose Sharks - made him offers before he chose Ottawa, reports The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.

Tarasenko collected eight goals and 13 assists in 31 games with the New York Rangers this past season after the St. Louis Blues traded him there in February. He produced 10 tallies and 19 helpers over 38 contests with the Blues in 2022-23.

The 31-year-old spent his first 10 full seasons with St. Louis, notching at least 30 goals in six seasons, including five straight from 2014-15 through 2018-19. That included a career-best 40 in 2015-16. However, he was then slowed by three shoulder surgeries in a span of 28 months.

The Blues drafted Tarasenko 16th overall in 2010.

Ottawa is down to just $32,620 in cap space as a result of the signing, according to CapFriendly. The Senators have two of their own young forwards left to sign in restricted free agent Egor Sokolov and Shane Pinto, who's a 10.2(c) player - essentially an RFA but ineligible for arbitration or an offer sheet.

Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.