Ottawa Senators Sign Nick Ebert to One Year Contract
The journeyman defender makes his next stop in Ottawa.
The Ottawa Senators announced today that they’ve agreed to a one year, two-way contract with defenceman Nick Ebert. At 25 years old, Ebert returns to North America after spending two seasons in the KHL and SHL.
News Release: #Sens sign defenceman Nick Ebert to a one-year, two-way contract: https://t.co/uFqEhkrJMl
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) June 10, 2019
Communiqué : Les #Sens mettent sous contrat le défenseur Nick Ebert : https://t.co/DZm3KzbUlL pic.twitter.com/4jJP8gxgHQ
A right-shot defenceman from Livingston, New Jersey, Ebert was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. After a few unsuccessful seasons with their AHL and ECHL affiliates, he didn’t receive a qualifying offer, and signed with the Texas Stars for one season.
In 2017-18 he departed for Europe, where he played one season each with HC Slovan Bratislava in the KHL, and Örebro HK in the SHL. He scored 33 points in 49 games for Örebro last season, which is roughly equivalent to 35 points in an 82-game NHL season. Ebert isn’t expected to reach that with the Senators — he has yet to even get a taste of NHL action. But he should be a welcome addition to a Belleville blue line whose right side currently consists of three pending UFAs in Erik Burgdoerfer, Cody Goloubef and Stefan Elliott.
Ebert has a couple connections to the Sens stemming from his junior career with the Windsor Spitfires and Guelph Storm. Ebert played for the Windsor Spitfires from 2011 to 2013, and Ottawa’s new head coach D.J. Smith was his coach in his final year there. And when Ebert was later traded to Guelph, Ben Harpur was part of the team’s blue line that won the 2014 OHL championship.
Ebert’s two-way deal carries a value of $700,000 in the NHL and $300,000 in the AHL.
