Bobby Ryan and Clarke MacArthur are both under contract with the Ottawa Senators for the 2014-15 season. That doesn’t seem to be good enough as the Senators are reportedly already working on signing both players to new contracts.
Asst. GM Pierre Dorion told @TSN1200 contract talks with Ryan & MacArthur have been "very productive" and are "beyond preliminary talks."
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) July 31, 2014
Sens fans should be happy to hear about this report. The two forwards were dynamic pieces of Ottawa’s offense, with Ryan scoring 23 goals while MacArthur tallied 24. Considering their age (Ryan is 27, MacArthur is 29), the two men both have a lot of good hockey ahead of them.
The Senators are wise to try and lock up these two assets prior to the start of the 2014-15 season. Barring an injury or some kind of prolonged slump, the price to retain both forwards will only grow as they creep towards free agency. Ryan will earn $5.1 million this season while MacArthur will pick up $3.25 million. Assuming the two have respectable seasons and that the NHL continues to raise the salary cap, the Senators may be forced to shell out significantly larger deals if they decide to wait on extending the two players.
There’s no guarantee that a deal will be done with both or either player prior to the start of the year, but it’s clear the Senators are intent on keeping both in the mix.
