Ottawa Senators sign Tyler Motte to one-year, $1.35 million contract

The Ottawa Senators have signed forward Tyler Motte to a one-year contract, according to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox and Elliotte Friedman. Per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the deal carries a $1.35 million cap hit.

Motte is a depth forward who has played previously for the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, and the New York Rangers. Teams are finalizing their plans for the year as the NHL nears the start of the 2022-23 season. Along with Sonny Milano and P.K. Subban, Motte was among the few NHL-caliber free agents on the market.

The Blackhawks chose Motte in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He blossomed as a player during the 2015-16 season when he played for the University of Michigan in the Big Ten. In 38 games that year he scored 32 goals and 56 points en route to being a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.

He then played his rookie season in Chicago, scoring seven points in 33 games. In the 2017 offseason, Motte was part of a blockbuster trade that sent Artemi Panarin to Columbus and Brandon Saad to Chicago. But Motte didn’t stay in Columbus for long, as he was traded to Vancouver as part of a deal for Thomas Vanek in February 2018.

It was in Vancouver that Motte found some consistency at the NHL level. He went on to play 196 games for the Canucks, posting 50 points in that span while bringing major physicality with a whopping 555 hits over that span. Late in the 2021-22 season, Motte was again traded, this time to the New York Rangers, who were gearing up for a playoff run.

He ended up suffering an upper-body injury that cost him the last 10 games of the regular season and first five playoff games with the Rangers. He only played nine regular games for the Blueshirts, though he did score two goals in 15 playoff games.

Motte will be in a highly-competitive battle for a roster spot on the up-and-coming Ottawa Senators team. He will have to prove he’s a better player than Austin Watson, Parker Kelly, Mark Kastelic, Dylan Gambrell, and Shane Pinto. Given the $1.35 million AAV, Motte has the inside track, however.