Discussions to get Claude Giroux under contract are expected to intensify in the next week.

Steve Staios, Ottawa’s president of hockey operations and general manager, will shuffle off to Buffalo on Sunday for the National Hockey League Combine that will formally get underway Monday as the 32 teams begin interviews with prospects.

Postmedia reported May 15 the Senators have already held informal contract talks with Giroux’s Los Angeles-based agent Pat Brisson, the expectation is the two sides will sit down for face-to-face discussions sometime next week to try to get an agreement in place.

The 37-year-old Giroux is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but the two sides have already found common ground in talks because he wants to stay with the club and the Senators have expressed interest in keeping him.

Now, the two sides have to see if they can get this piece of business out of the way so that Giroux can enjoy his summer and Staios can turn his focus to trying to help the Senators roster improve after the club made the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Postmedia has spoken with several league executives since the Senators were eliminated by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and all agree 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.

Those league executives also predicted that the Senators will likely get a deal done because both sides are committed to making it happen, and it makes sense for Giroux to stay in Ottawa.

The biggest decision for Staios, and the Senators, is the term. Should it be a one or two-year deal? This is a contract for an over 35-year-old, which means it won’t offer any cap relief if Giroux’s game falls off.

“I’d prefer to pay him on a one year contract because those wheels are going to fall off,” a league executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Postmedia on Friday. “They didn’t last year, they did a little bit at the end, but I thought he had a pretty good year.”

The issue the Senators are facing is the level of interest Giroux would get if he did get to the market on July 1. League executives believe the Montreal Canadiens would be among several teams that would make a pitch.

“Giroux might be able to get two years if he goes somewhere else so you have to be cognizant of that. You want to do one year.”

Making $6.5 million U.S. in the final season of a three-year deal he signed with the Senators on July 1, 2022, Giroux is without question the best free-agent signing this club has had in its history.

In 245 career games with the Senators, Giroux has contributed 71 goals and 122 assists for 193 points. The only game he missed in three seasons was down the stretch this year while being rested for the playoffs.

Averaging more than 19 minutes of ice time, Giroux ranks among the best faceoff men in the league with a 61.5% winning percentage last season.

Giroux finished with 15 goals and 50 points in 81 games last season. He was mostly used on the club’s top two lines, but also on the club’s power-play and penalty-killing units.

“He was good last year, he was really good on faceoffs, and he doesn’t have the speed to play centre anymore, but he’s an effective player that can contribute,” the executive said.

Those who know Giroux well know he doesn’t have any intention of going anywhere else. He came back to Ottawa to help the Senators make the next step; his wife, Ryanne, is comfortable here with the couple’s three children, and there is an opportunity to help the club make another step.

Owner Michael Andlauer has treated Giroux first-class since buying the Senators in Sept. 2023, and he had good discussions with Staios about the future during his exit meeting earlier this month. Coach Travis Green and the staff use Giroux in every situation to help the club have success.

He’s also as important with his leadership off the ice as he is when he’s on it. Giroux has helped mould captain Brady Tkachuk and winger Tim Stutzle into becoming better players at both ends of the ice.

The Senators were able to take some of the pressure off Giroux this season by bringing in veteran wingers David Perron and Michael Amadio, along with defenceman Nick Jensen from the Washington Capitals.

We’re told that both sides understand that this negotiation is important and doesn’t have to be difficult. The best bet is that we see a deal soon because the closer Giroux is allowed to get to unrestricted free agency, the more he could be tempted to test the market to see what’s out there.

The expectation is that the Senators are about to turn the small talk with Brisson into action to get a contract in place.

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