The Ottawa Senators have locked up one of their pending free agents, signing Artem Zub to a two-year contract extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.5MM. Senators GM Pierre Dorion was doing a media availability when Zub’s agent Dan Milstein broke the news, and explained that the Russian defenseman “brought stability” to the team’s blueline this season.
Zub, 25, scored 14 points in his first NHL season, but it was his calm defensive play that stood out. An Olympic gold medalist that had played five full seasons in the KHL before signing with the Senators, Zub quickly became one of the team’s most important players. Though his season-long average ice time sits at just 18:23, that number doesn’t represent how much responsibility he had by the end of the season. In his last five games, Zub averaged more than 23 minutes a night.
Coming off his entry-level contract, Zub was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. This two-year deal will help Ottawa avoid that, but does leave the 25-year-old as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2023. At that point, if his play continues, the team will likely have to pay a lot more than $2.5MM per season for his services.
For now, he can continue to be a stabilizing presence in the middle of their defensive group for a reasonable price.
Zub. Let’s go. Now turn those two years into eight!
His play was Zub-par.