Senators sign goaltender Ersson and winger Cousins, hold steady on Canada Day despite frantic week
GM Steve Staios opted to sign only his own unrestricted free agents Wednesday, leaving the club with $5.295 million US in remaining cap space.
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The Ottawa Senators signed their own unrestricted free agents—goaltender Samuel Ersson and veteran winger Nick Cousins—on Canada Day, but made no major free-agent moves after a frantic week of trades.
GM Steve Staios announced the signings at a press conference Wednesday evening at the Canadian Tire Centre, where the power briefly went out just as he was about to take questions. The club now has $5.295 million US in cap space remaining.
The quiet day on free agency came after the Senators made significant moves in the previous 10 days: trading captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers on June 22, acquiring winger William Eklund from the San Jose Sharks 48 hours later, and dealing veteran forward Andre Burakovsky to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Before the NHL draft Friday night, defenceman Jordan Spence signed a four-year extension at $5 million per season.
Staios said the club continues to work on potential improvements but didn't rule out future moves. "It's been a week since I've made the trade on Brady, and you have the draft, and so I think it's a little early to make an assessment on where we're at," he said. "We continue to work at it. Today is just one day."
Most of the core roster remains intact, including Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig, Drake Batherson, Artem Zub, Tyler Kleven, and goaltender Linus Ullmark.
