Senators' Claude Giroux gets $3 million contract update

Claude Giroux is a pending free agent, but the Ottawa Senators don't want to let him get there.

There are less than two weeks for the Sens to prevent Giroux from hitting the open market.

The Ottawa Citizen's Bruce Garrioch reports that the Senators desire a one-year contract to bring Giroux back.

"We’re led to believe that the Senators would like to sign Giroux to a one-year extension and that was the length of their initial offer," Garrioch writes. "This is a contract for an over-35-year-old player, which means it won’t offer any cap relief if Giroux’s game falls off."

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Garrioch goes on to share that "Giroux’s next deal should have a base salary in the $3-million range plus achievable bonuses that could allow him to make between $4.5-to-$5 million."

Giroux is 37 years old and just wrapped up his 18th NHL season. He had 15 goals and 35 assists in 81 games.

He's only missed one game total across his three seasons with the Senators. Before that, he had spent a single year in Florida following 15 years with Philadelphia.

Garrioch reports that if Giroux can't complete a deal with Ottawa, Montreal may be the team that swoops in to sign him.

That would make it especially painful for the Senators not to bring him back. So if they can keep Giroux around as a strong veteran presence while also spiting the Canadiens, that'd be a great outcome in Ottawa.

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