The Ottawa Senators have no intention of trading forward Drake Batherson.
Senators owner Michael Andlauer and general manager Steve Staios spoke with reporters at the team's alumni golf tournament about rumour circulating about Batherson's future with the club.
“It's not right. There’s no truth to that,” Andlauer said when asked about the possibility of Batherson being moved. "You just gotta get your sources right. You can always validate it here. But it's not for me or Steve. To me it's all about the player because now all of a sudden this guy is seeing that and it's totally false.
Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch reported that some teams were wondering if the Senators would consider listening to offers for Batherson around the draft.
I know things get out there and are written and you know that there's no truth to it... I talk to our players often through the off season anyway, but I just thought the timing was right to make sure that Drake knows that there's no truth to it.," Staios said. "Was Drake concerned? No, he didn't seem concerned at all really. I mean, I talked to him mostly about his training and, you know, what he's been doing and how he's going to approach the summer."
Batherson scored 26 goals and 68 points in 82 games this season but struggled to produce in the playoffs, registering just two points in the team's first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 27-year-old has two seasons left on his contract that comes with a $4.975 million cap hit.
Staios also said that he is continuing to talk to Claude Giroux and his representatives about a contract. The 37-year-old is coming off a three-year, $19.5 million deal he signed with the Senators back in 2022.
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