Senators Re-Sign Ray Emery and Christoph Schubert

The Senators have avoided two arbitration hearings in re-signing restricted free agents Ray Emery and Christoph Schubert to three year deals.

Ray Emery's new cap number will be 3.167 million over the three years, after going 33-16-6 (12th) in the regular season, with five shutouts (tied for 6th), a .918 save percentage (tied for 7th), and a 2.47 Goals Against Average (tied for 13th). In the playoffs, Emery went 13-7 (tied for 1st) with three shutouts (tied for 1st), .907 save percentage (13th), and a 2.26 Goals Against Average (10th) to help the Senators fall three wins short of the Stanley Cup.

His price of 3.167 million is both expected and reasonable. It's not that he is as great a goaltender as Ryan Miller, or that he led his team to a Stanley Cup as rookie Cam Ward did, but their deals for 2.667 million are out of date compared to the high bidding of today. While the Sens got much further than the New York Rangers in the playoffs this year, Henrik Lundqvist is a better goalie, and so Emery should not have received the 4.25 million that he did. Emery isn't able to play 70+ games a season, and standing behind one of the best pure defensive pairings in the NHL and some fantastic defensive forwards surely helped Emery this season.

Christoph Schubert's new three year cap number will be 0.883 million, and this is indeed a steal for the Sens, at a time when their cap space is precious. While his 25 points won't impress many, his versatility should. He played in 80 games this season, over 50 of them as a left wing, and the rest in his natural position on the blue line. He also managed a plus/minus rating of +30. Not the best, but usually when it's that high, it's because you are or are a linemate of a top-scoring forward, or part of a top defensive pairing behind a top line. When you're playing on the third and fourth line, out of position, and often in front of the second and third defensive pairings, it's a true accomplishment.

I look forward to the next three seasons, to see Emery mature and earn his keep, and to see Schubert continue to surpass all expectations as one of our best value players.