The Montreal Canadiens have been linked to a potential trade for a $5 million Ottawa Senators winger who has scored 149 goals during his NHL career.
Montreal could use another proven scoring option as it looks to strengthen its forward group, and the veteran winger’s combination of experience and production makes him an intriguing potential target.
The winger in the trade rumors is Drake Batherson, and Montreal’s interest is conditional on Ottawa’s ability to lock him up long-term. His camp is seeking a deal in the range of Adrian Kempe’s eight-year, $10.625 million annual contract, according to a report from The Hockey Writers. If Ottawa can’t close that gap, Montreal will be watching, according to analyst Marco D’Amico, cited in the same report.
The interest tracks with Montreal’s recent involvement in trade chatter around other top-six forwards, including Kirill Marchenko and Matthew Knies. General manager Kent Hughes has shown a willingness to chase established scoring help even without an obvious opening on the roster.
Batherson’s Contract Standoff With the Ottawa Senators
GettyDrake Batherson #19 of the Ottawa Senators.
The two sides “aren’t close,” with front-office evaluators around the league believing Batherson could command $10 million to $11 million annually on the open market, according to Ottawa Citizen reporting. Senators general manager Steve Staios has confirmed talks are underway.
Batherson isn’t pushing for a trade. He has said Ottawa “feels like home,” as quoted by a separate NHL Trade Rumors analysis of the situation, which also notes there’s no active negotiation between the two clubs at this point. Ottawa has already shot down trade speculation once, with owner Michael Andlauer and Staios dismissing rumors around the 2025 draft, according to a Sportsnet report at the time.
Batherson carries a $4.975 million cap hit signed in 2021, a bargain figure for a winger of his production, according to contract records from PuckPedia. He’s under contract through 2026-27 before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2027.
What Trading for Drake Batherson Would Cost Montreal
Montreal is carrying roughly $9.78 million in projected cap space for 2026-27, according to PuckPedia‘s team cap breakdown, enough room to absorb Batherson’s current hit without touching the rest of the roster. The Canadiens’ core pieces, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky among them, are locked in below market rate, giving Hughes flexibility to negotiate an extension later.
Ottawa would be selling a productive winger to a division rival, and no specific trade package has surfaced. Expect any deal to require a first-round pick, a top prospect, or a young NHL contributor, with the divisional premium likely pushing Montreal’s offer higher than a non-Atlantic team would need to pay.
Over the past two seasons, Batherson has combined for 59 goals, 80 assists and 139 points across 161 games, including four points in four playoff games last spring, according to Batherson’s player page on NHL.com. That’s a steady climb from 68 points in 2024-25 to 71 last season, both career-best marks.
A 6-foot-3 right-shot with a physical edge and power-play touch, he’d give Montreal’s young core a proven finisher in a top-six role, and the Canadiens’ cheap core deals leave room to maneuver on an extension down the road.
None of it comes cheap, and none of it is close to finalized. Ottawa still wants Batherson in a Senators sweater beyond 2027, and Montreal’s interest only becomes real business if that effort collapses first.
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