2025 Ottawa Senators Report Cards: Drake Batherson

Staff Grade: B, Reader Grade: B-

Depending on who you ask, Drake Batherson either makes for one of the easiest appraisals among Ottawa Senators forwards or one of the most nuanced. I tend to lean more towards the reader vote (I actually graded Batherson even worse) but I also very quickly realized the extent to which recency bias affected my decision-making when I did this write-up. I want to start with the bad because it seems better to end this article on a high note, because after all the off-season should ring with optimism and the promise of a better season next time around. Or should it?

Batherson's first post-season impression probably didn't go the way he had hoped it would. For forwards who can score well enough during the regular season, the playoffs make for something of a proving ground where players with that next gear come through in the clutch and set themselves apart from their peers. Call it nerves or inexperience but for whatever reason, Batherson looked like he had a live grenade on his stick for a lot of Ottawa's first-round series against Toronto–and you know what? It happens!

Toronto played good defence in that series so you can only read so much into the fact that Batherson had just two points and nine shots in those six games. His linemate Dylan Cozens also had a rough series, and David Perron (experience noted) probably looked like Ottawa's best second-line option. Batherson took an uncharacteristic ten penalty minutes in the series (while drawing zero) and Linus Ullmark bailed him out more than once.

Once the dust settled, Batherson had an unsavoury minus-three beside his name, and while he played well on the powerplay, he couldn't convert (and nothing else really matters especially in the post-season when even strength scoring all but disappears). Somehow, despite how bad that second line looked by the eye test in the playoffs, Batherson did break even in on-ice expected goals percentage so I can safely say I let my intuition get the better of me here (as the regular season numbers will further bear out).

Now just to refresh (because I forget these things too a lot of the time), the Senators have Batherson on the books for two more seasons at a very reasonable 4.75M$ and no matter how you slice it, Ottawa has gotten more than ample value out of the former fourth-round pick who acted as something of a rare bright spot during some extremely lean years. I'll circle back to Batherson's value and role in the organization after we review his regular season contributions (those alone maybe do justify the "B" grade (or maybe even better?)).

In the regular season, among Ottawa's forwards, Batherson ranked second in goals (26), second in assists (42), and (vying for the Brady Tkachuk award) also ranked second in shots and hits. Batherson also played in all 82 games this season and took just 15 penalties while drawing 22. All of these seem like really good things especially for a winger making under five million–on a playoff team. Like most of Ottawa's forwards, shooting luck really burned Batherson as the team shot just 7% on ice at five-on-five so one could even hope for an uptick next year under the right circumstances.

Now we tread into the murkier waters, as we all know Batherson has a reputation for scoring goals while not necessarily playing the best defence (I can name a hundred other wingers with the same profile though) and his 2.53 xGA/60 at five-on-five ranked among the worst among Ottawa's regular forwards. He also doesn't kill penalties and generally profiles as something of a one-trick pony (still with plenty of value–don't get me wrong!). On the powerplay, Ottawa did best with Batherson on the ice as his 8.93 xG/60 led the group. When he gets going (November-December, March-April) Ottawa's offence looks unstoppable. When he gets cold (January-February) opposing defences make this team look silly.

So what can we make of all this information? We can take the easy route and figure that Ottawa can safely bank on another 60-plus point season (maybe more) from a player on a very team-friendly contract, and hope that Cozens (and fellow newcomer Fabian Zetterlund) settle into their roles in Ottawa allowing the top-six to gel in a way that optimizes returns from all those involved. Another year of growth from players like Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto should after all mitigate the aging of Perron and Claude Giroux. Let free agency take care of the rest.

Or we could take the more complex approach to the problem. If any of Ottawa's forwards looked like a candidate to me for a Chychrun-for-Jensen type trade then I would nominate Batherson. Teams would line up around the block for a goal-scorer with such a reasonable price-tag, and Ottawa could probably use a forward with a bit more of a commitment to defence. Of course, the existence of Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot facilitated the Jakob Chychrun trade. Ottawa doesn't have the same type of depth of front, and I don't know if they can bank on finding another 25-plus goal-scorer in the cupboard.

Batherson provides a lot of value to this team and should continue to do so for the near future. Ottawa has no reason to mess with the formula. That being said, looking at the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers of the world, one realizes how much urgency front offices need to demonstrate in the pursuit of constantly upgrading their rosters. If the Drake Batherson that we saw in those six games against Toronto looked to Steve Staios like the truest iteration of Ottawa's long-time winger then maybe start making some phone calls.