Formenton’s future on the line in Ottawa
OTTAWA It’s time to make a decision on where Alex Formenton will spend the rest of the season. Or is it?
Against the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night, the Ottawa Senators rookie suited up for his ninth game of the campaign, which was significant because after playing a 10th his entry-level contract would kick in. In that case, Formenton would become a restricted free agent after the 2020-21 season.
More significant, however, is the 40-game mark. Once he sticks around that long, Formenton will have an accrued NHL season under his belt. At that point, it would count as the first of seven seasons in which he is under team control. So if he plays more than 39 games this season, he’ll be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2025.
If you think the Formenton situation is keeping coach Guy Boucher up at night, think again. As of Thursday morning, he had not talked to general manager Pierre Dorion about the 10-game mark the winger was fast approaching.
“We haven’t had any discussions about that ... zero,” said Boucher. “I’m coaching the player that’s here right now and I’m not pretending I’m making player-personnel decisions. Right now, he’s doing really well. He had his best game last game (Tuesday in Arizona). He was everywhere. He got the second star of the game and his first goal. That line looked really good last game, so we’re looking forward to seeing him in the lineup (Thursday), for sure.”
As for Formenton, he’s trying to stay focused on playing the game, not the business part of it.
“Coming into this nine-game mark, I just wanted to keep playing my game and work hard,” the 19-year-old said. “I think our main focus is just having my head in the game and on hockey. You don’t really want to mess up your head too much about the nine games.”
But the question remains: Which course is better for Formenton’s development? Before Thursday, he was averaging 11 minutes 41 seconds of ice time per game. Is that enough? Probably.
If the decision is made to send him to back to his junior team, the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights will be getting the Senators’ fastest skater.
“Every day I’m here I feel like I’m growing,” said Formenton. “Just practising every day with these guys and playing game by game, I feel I’m learning a lot from these older guys and learning a lot from the management.”