You can officially strike Chris Tierney and Filip Chlapik off the Ottawa Senators list of restricted free agents.
As first reported by Postmedia on Monday, the Senators made official the signing of Tierney to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $3.5 million per season on Tuesday. This meant both sides avoided an arbitration hearing that had been scheduled for Nov. 8.
The 26-year-old centre is to make $2.8 million in 2020-21 and $4.2 million in 2021-22. Tierney was sixth on the Senators roster last season with 36 points, including 11 goals, in 71 games before the National Hockey League went on pause because of COVID-19.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Senators also announced that forward Filip Chlapik had signed a one-year, two-way deal that will pay him $750,000 in the NHL and $70,000 if he’s playing for Belleville in the American Hockey League.
Tierney said he was pleased he didn’t have to go through the arbitration process and his agent, Joe Resnick, was able to get a contract in place.
“I’m really happy to get it done. I don’t think any player or team really wants to go through the process of arbitration,” Tierney said in a Zoom call from his home north of Toronto. “You hear a lot of stories and it doesn’t sound good from either side. I really wanted to get something done and avoid that.
“The fact that we could get two years is great, and I’m really happy to be back in Ottawa.”
Tierney has carved himself a nice role on this team. He has had the chance to contribute at both ends of the ice and he knows that, as an older player, he must try to be at the head of the class.
“I’ll be talking to D.J. (Smith, Senators head coach) when we get to camp and I’ll see where he wants me to play,” Tierney said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys coming up and coming in that are going to be good players. I just want to try to be a leader for this team and still try to be a good player.
“I still want to play big minutes. I still want to play by contributing defensively and offensively to this team. I’m really just looking forward to the kind of role that D.J. has for me and growing into it. You get a certain amount of games and a certain age, especially with the young guys, that you need to transition to a leadership role. That’s what I want to do this year.”
General manager Pierre Dorion, who has spent the past 30 days shaping the Senators’ roster, was pleased to keep both forward in the fold. Tierney has 436 games of NHL experience with 61 goals and 128 assists for 189 points, with 152 of those as a Senator since he was acquired in the deal that sent Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks.
“We’re pleased to reach an agreement with Chris that will see him under contract here for multiple seasons,” Dorion said in a statement. “He’s a reliable veteran who has very good hockey sense and who is consistently among our best centres in faceoff success rate. That he’s accumulated significant NHL experience in a short period of time is also of considerable importance to our lineup.”
Tierney has been pleased with the recent changes the Senators have made, including the acquisition of goalie Matt Murray from Pittsburgh, forward Evgenii Dadonov in free agency and the trade for winger Austin Watson with Nashville.
“I played with him in London. He came over in my second year and, I think it was his fourth, and he ended up playing unbelievable for us,” Tierney said. “We won the OHL championship and he was the MVP and he was a star at the Memorial Cup to. He’s an under-rated player and Ottawa fans are going to be impressed watching him and the details in his game.
“He’s got a good stick, he’s got more hockey sense and awareness than people give him credit for, so I’m looking forward to watching him again.”
Chlapik is not going to set the world on fire offensively, but he’s shown he can play at the NHL level and play a defensive role as well. He had 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in Bellevllle.
“Filip’s a competitive player who works hard,” Dorion said. “He has applied himself to becoming an important player for us in Belleville. We’re confident that same work ethic will be equally as effective for him as he strives to become the same type of player in Ottawa.”
All that’s left on Dorion’s “to do” list now is the signing of restricted free-agent defenceman Christian Jaros.
Jaros had rights to salary arbitration and has a hearing scheduled for Nov. 7. The Senators previous settled with forwards Nick Paul and Connor Brown and, as noted above, Tierney, so it wouldn’t be a shock if Jaros settled as well.
The 24-year-old suited up for only 13 games with the Senators last season. A league executive said Tuesday that players in Jaros’ position were filing because they want the arbitrator to award them more money if they were in the minors. Last year, Jaros made $70,000 in Belleville, so he’ll want a six-figure salary.
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