Senators sign center Derick Brassard to one-year deal

Brassard, 35, had signed a professional tryout contract with the Senators in mid-September and played his way into the one-year deal during camp and the preseason. 

Brassard split his 2021-22 seasons between the Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers acquired him at the 2022 NHL trade deadline from the Flyers for a 2023 fourth-round pick. He primarily functioned as roster depth for the Oilers but did dress for one game during Edmonton’s 2022 Stanley Cup playoff run.

Brassard, a Gatineau native, is returning to his hometown NHL franchise for a second tenure with the one-year pact. He was traded to the Senators in a high-profile deal that sent Mika Zibanejad to the New York Rangers in July 2016. Brassard played 139 games across two seasons with the Sens, tallying 32 goals and 77 points, and was a core member of the team that reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2016-17, falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins. When Ottawa slid out of contention the following season, it sold off Brassard as a deadline move in 2018, trading him to the Penguins.

If Brassard can become a lineup fixture with the Sens in 2022-23, he has a shot to reach 1,000 career games, as he’s just 49 away from the mark at 951. Chosen sixth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2006 NHL Draft, he’s amassed 522 points, ninth among players from his class. His best seasons came as a Ranger. He had a career-high 60 points in 2014-15 and 27 goals in 2015-16 in broadway blue.

Whatever happens this season, it’s clear Brassard wants to let his roots continue to strengthen in his hometown. In 2020, Brassard became a minority owner of the OHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. During the pre-season, he expressed interest in carving out a role for the Senators like Jason Spezza did with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, finishing out his career as a veteran leader.