Dzingel deal gives Senators full house of forwards
Speedy forward thankful for opportunity after inking two-year contract extension
After avoiding salary arbitration and signing Ryan Dzingel to a two-year, US$3.6 million contract extension on Friday, the Ottawa Senators now have a full house of forwards.
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion has the option to stick with the four lines full of proven playoff experience or perhaps he can look to trade for a veteran defenceman to offset the loss of Marc Methot earlier this summer.
“Having a lot of good players is a good thing for the Ottawa Senators,” Dorion said as he enjoyed his drive home from Toronto, after avoiding the scheduled morning arbitration hearing. “Ryan gives us the security of a guy who can play on our top two lines.”
Dzingel, who scored 14 goals and 18 assists in 81 games during the 2016-17 regular season, went into Friday with the belief that, hearing or not, he would be walking away with only a one-year contract.
“It was a whirlwind for me and my family and a great day for us,” he said. “The organization and Pierre (Dorion) handled it so well. It’s awesome for me. I’m lost for words, but excited to be back for two years.”
As is typically the case, a hearing had the potential to become nasty.
In advance of Friday, the Senators submitted a salary offer of $1 million per season, while Dzingel’s camp countered with $1.95 million per season.
Dzingel, 25, owns breakaway speed and successfully filled the void left by Clarke MacArthur’s concussion issues early in the season. He scored 11 goals and 15 assists in his opening 48 games.
Yet, playing in his first full NHL season, he slumped in the second half. He scored only three goals while adding three assists in his final 33 regular season games.
When the Senators were fully healthy following the trade acquisitions of Alex Burrows and Viktor Stalberg, coupled with the return of MacArthur, Dzingel became a healthy scratch.
In the playoffs, he scored two goals in 15 games, including the late third period marker that sent Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against Pittsburgh to overtime.
Now, with the security of a two-year deal, he’s anxious to showcase more.
“It’s not about a comfort zone and I want to prove to (the Senators) that they were right,” he said. “I would like to finish up on more of my breakaways, and in the second half, I would like to be more consistent and continue what I did (early in the season) throughout the whole year.”
Dorion suggests Dzingel gave up a potential bigger payday in the first year of the contract, while the Senators moved off a hard line number in the second year.
Now that the Dzingel contract is secured, there are no remaining players to re-sign. The Senators have the majority of their forwards back from the team that advanced to the Eastern Conference Final, with only Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, Stalberg and Tommy Wingels not returning.
When healthy, the club’s left wingers include Mike Hoffman, MacArthur, Zack Smith and Dzingel. All of them are on longterm contracts. Max McCormick, who had a strong season with Binghamton of the AHL in 201617, also owns a guaranteed NHL contract for the 2018-19 season.
There is, however, still the possibility that MacArthur could retire, which would put more pressure on Dzingel to produce.
“We hope Clarke comes back,” Dorion said. “All indications are ... that he’ll come back. But if he chooses to go another direction, we’ll respect that.”
The Senators will likely begin the season with centre Derick Brassard on the sidelines, still recovering from a post-season shoulder injury. That could open the door for rookie Colin White to start in Ottawa, or the club could move Smith back to his natural position at centre.
Alternatively, the loaded forward ranks could give pause for Dorion to consider trading an established forward to add to the club’s defensive depth.
Following the loss of Methot to Las Vegas in the expansion draft — he was subsequently traded to Dallas — the Senators’ blueline includes returning players Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci, Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Claesson, Mark Borowiecki and Chris Wideman. Canadian world junior star Thomas Chabot will also make a strong push to make the team out of training camp.