Thomson was a free agent after spending a year in the Swedish Hockey League with the Malmo Redhawks. However, since he is only 24 years old and has played in only four professional seasons in North America, he is still a restricted free agent, with his rights being held by the Senators. This new deal will allow him to play in either the NHL with the Senators, or in the AHL with their minor league affiliate, the Belleville Senators.
There are no confirmed signing or performance bonuses with the contract. However, it is a two-way contract, so Thomson’s salary will decrease to $300,000 when in the AHL with Belleville.
With the Redhawks in Sweden, Thomson had a strong season with 17 goals and 12 assists for 29 points in 50 games, with the 17 goals being the most he’s scored in a professional hockey season in any league.
Thomson has played just 18 NHL games up to this point in his NHL career. The 2019 19th-overall pick managed to play 16 games in the 2021-22 season, where he had five assists, and then got into two more in 2022-23, where he was held without a point.
The Senators have kept themselves slightly busy with a few contract signings already, as along with Thomson, they’ve extended Nikolas Matinpalo, Lucas Ellinas, and Tyler Kleven. Ottawa has 13 unrestricted free agents including Claude Giroux and Anton Forsberg, and 12 RFAs including Fabian Zetterlund, and have more than $15 million in salary cap space to do so.
The Senators will look to build off of a season that saw them end a seven-season playoff drought, and finish the season with a 45-30-7 record, good enough for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They were eliminated in the first round in six games by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
