The Ottawa Senators and forward Alex Chiasson had their verdict handed down following last week’s arbitration. Chiasson has been awarded a one-year deal worth $1.2 million, the team announced on Sunday.
Chiasson came to the Senators as a part of the trade that sent Jason Spezza to the Dallas Stars last summer. In his first season with the Senators, Chiasson scored 11 goals and 15 assists through 76 games. That’s a slight step back from his final season with the Stars, where he scored 13 goals and 22 assists in 79 games.
Talk about a step back last season may be overblown though. A lot of the addition production he saw in Dallas can be explained through getting solid power play time with the Stars and getting a little more even strength time as well. Couple that with a slight decrease in offensive zone starts, it’s easy to see how that slight step back in raw totals could be misleading when assessing his overall play.
#Sens Chiasson arbitration ruling (one-year, $1.2M), news release in English: http://t.co/l7ssB3JSSq and in French: http://t.co/FqQI1jtUQA
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 26, 2015
At 5-on-5, the 24-year-old winger posted a P/60 of 1.3 last season and the season before. He also saw an improvement in his score-adjusted CF%Rel last season, moving to 0.0 from a -1.6% the season before.
At 6-foot-4, 205 pound, Chiasson has the ability to slot into a third line wing spot and be effective for the young Senators squad that has seen a number of younger players step up recently and move into top scoring and leadership roles. While he may not have the flash some expected, Chiasson could be a key piece of building a deep team for the coming season in Ottawa.
Quote from #Sens general manager Bryan Murray following this morning’s announcement of the Alex Chiasson arbitration ruling: (1/5)
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 26, 2015
(2/5) “The arbitration process went as we expected – we had the opportunity to make our case, as did Alex’s group.”
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 26, 2015
(3/5) “In our opinion, both sides made fair, detailed arguments and we are satisfied with the ruling of the arbitrator."
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 26, 2015
(4/5) "We are happy to have Alex under contract and anticipate that he will be a productive player for us this season."
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 26, 2015
(5/5) "Alex will be given the chance to have an important role in the team’s success.”
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 26, 2015