Fabian Zetterlund’s new contract is good value for the Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators signed 2025 trade deadline acquisition and pending restricted free agent Fabian Zetterlund to a three-year contract extension on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Swede racked up just two goals and five points in 20 games after arriving in Ottawa at the beginning of March but had previously collected 17 goals and 36 points in 64 games with the San Jose Sharks to start the season. His new deal carries a $4.275 million cap hit.
The Senators gave up Zack Ostapchuk, Noah Gregor, and a 2025 second-round pick to acquire Zetterlund, so they clearly value his capabilities. He failed to record a point in six playoff games this spring but has been productive enough over his 247-game NHL career to warrant some benefit of the doubt.
On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, co-hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli dug into one of the first notable signings of the 2025 offseason.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I don’t think anyone’s really going to complain about signing a 25-year-old who’s shown in back-to-back seasons he can more or less get you to 20 goals. There’s upside here, he’s proven it now for a couple of seasons, the number isn’t insane — 3 years, $4.275 million — but the question that comes into the chat, we talked with Brent Wallace last week, this Senators team probably isn’t going to spend to the cap this summer — does this mean Claude Giroux’s days in Ottawa are over?
Frank Seravalli: I don’t know if it means that they’re over. I don’t know if it necessarily precludes them from doing that by any stretch of the imagination. But what it is for the Sens is an investment in the present and the future, that they think this guy certainly has another level to climb to. I think that’s probably a pretty fair assessment. He’s shown some of that capability, and at $4.275 million, it’s a very reasonable bet in both dollars and term. He’s already producing at a $4.275 million level. Just going out and duplicating or replicating that for each of the next three seasons and he’s taking care of himself. But if he can find a way, having come over from San Jose at the deadline, that he can do more in Ottawa? Then the Sens are going to have some real surplus value.
Watch the full episode here: