The Ottawa Senators have reached an agreement with one of their restricted free agents, signing Nick Paul to a two-year contract according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. Garrioch reports that the deal will carry a $1.2MM salary in 2020-21 and $1.5MM in 2021-22, giving Paul a $1.35MM cap hit.
Paul, 25, has been moving in and out of the Senators lineup for years, playing 112 games at the NHL since the start of the 2015-16 season. He finally broke through in 2019-20, scoring 20 points in 56 games and becoming a full-time roster player that should get regular minutes again this season.
One of 26 players that filed for salary arbitration, Paul actually had a hearing set for November 1. He won’t need that anymore, as this contract takes him right to unrestricted free agency. The Senators meanwhile have several other hearings on the schedule and even more restricted free agents to get deals done with in the coming months.