Ottawa Senators sign Chris DiDomenico to 2-year contract
The former Leafs draft pick has been playing in Europe since 2012
The Ottawa Senators have signed forward Chris DiDomenico to a two-year contract, per Swiss Hockey News.
UPDATE: SCL Tigers' president Jakob confirms that Chris DiDomenico will join the Ottawa Senators #NHL #SCLTigers https://t.co/TjCJIeVAYv
— swisshockeynews.ch (@SwissHockeyNews) February 27, 2017
The deal takes effect immediately as a two-way deal. Because he’s an unrestricted free agent playing in Europe, he’ll need to clear waivers first.
reports out of Switzerland say #Sens have offered Chris DiDomenico a 2 yr contract. As a UFA playing in Europe he'll need to clear waivers. pic.twitter.com/OYohWQjrIq
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) February 27, 2017
A similar situation took place for the Binghamton Senators earlier this month, when Patrick Mullen was claimed off waivers after the B-Sens signed him from the KHL.
The contract has an average annual value of $612,500.
DiDomenico, who has been playing in Europe for the last five seasons, leaves the NLA (Swiss League) ranked 24th in points and 9th in assists, with 34 points in 46 games for SCL Tigers. The signing is presumably sparked by Guy Boucher and Marc Crawford, who both coached against him frequently over the last few seasons in Switzerland. Boucher was also DiDomenico’s coach on the Drummondville Voltigeurs in 2008-09, a season where both he and Mike Hoffman scored over point-per-game and won the QMJHL title.
You may recognize his name from a few places. He was a former draft pick for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2007 (164th overall), he was a minor piece in the trade that brought Kris Versteeg to Chicago, and he’s been a point-per-game producer for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup for the last two years.
DiDomenico, who can play centre or right wing, should provide some extra depth to the Sens’ forward group heading into the final stretch of the season.
