Victor Mete has signed a new contract with the Ottawa Senators.

Mete played decently after we claimed him off waivers from Montreal.

He has allowed the team to avoid salary arbitration with a rather modest extension and to focus on other priorities for the offseason.

This is a good signing IMO

Personally had him at 1.25×2, but I totally get why one year makes sense for both sides.


I was a big fan of what he brought to the table for Ottawa this year. Not super dangerous offensively, but very effective at keeping the puck in the O-zone and allowing the offensive possession to continue. He was excellent in moving the puck in transition, and despite being small he was very effective in his positional defending, able to angle off plays and retrieve pucks efficiently.

I imagine he's currently slotting in as the 3rd pair LD, with Holden playing the off side. I think ideally it would shake out where Zub and Holden play top 4 on the right side and Zaitsev would fall to playing 3rd Pair with Mete, but that's not terribly realistic.


It does continue to bring into question Brannstrom's standing in the Organization. The Sens now have 7 D on one way deals (Chabot, Zub, Mete, Holden, Zaitsev, Del Zotto, Brown), which makes his path to the NHL very murky this year. I believe he is still able to skip waivers, but to my eye he's at worst a regular NHL player, and I just don't see how more AHL time helps him at this stage.

Brannstrom's standing in the organization makes the value we got from the Mark Stone trade all the more precarious.

Although it's water under the bridge, it's starting to become a bit unfortunate looking back at it


We now have Chabot, Brannstrom, Holden, Mete, Del Zotto, Sanderson, Kleven and Tychonick as our entire collection of left-handed D that have some NHL potential.

That's a lot.

Somebody's going to have to be moved out.

Because DJ Smith be the coach got a feeling we wont see a lot of Brannstrom

This is a good depth signing for the Senators. Because of the amount and term, I think this is as close to a "perfect" signing for both sides as you can get.

Brannstrom could start in Belleville in theory, but I can't see how he really benefits from it. I just don't see a scenario where he spends another year in Belleville, then ends up in a full time NHL role in Ottawa next year.

I'm really starting to think they could make a push for Eichel. They're certainly well positioned to do it.

Fringe player taking up 30% of Melnyk's budget for next season.

"I voted no"

Brannstrom for Eichel?

Is that what I'm hearing?

I liked Metes fit in Ottawa, he can play in any situation. nice signing.

I think he'd make a lot of sense as one of the pieces. He's only 21, and there's a lot of upside there. Plus he has a lot of history with Rasmus Dahlin, which always seems to play in the NHL. always want to keep your stars happy. Gotta think he'd be one of the more appealing targets, as from everything I've seen, teams don't seem willing to part with the true top tier prospects in Eichel talks. Sens would be able to build a robust package of futures beyond that as well.

Good deal, loved him in Montreal, wish him the best