Drake Batherson's Eight-Year Career Climb Is One For The NHL History Books

Drake Batherson is aging like fine wine. Two weeks shy of his 28th birthday, and now in his eighth season with the club, every year has been a little better than the last.

For example, this season, the Ottawa Senators winger has cracked the 30-goal and 70-point mark for the first time in his NHL career.

"Every player has always got (individual) goals going through the season," Batherson told the Coming in Hot podcast on Monday. "And for me, it was, I wanted to score 30 and get 70 points. So I was pretty pumped to obviously do that."

"And you know, the next year you set new goals out for yourself. And if you can do that and help the team get in the playoffs, I think that's the biggest thing. And yeah, I think it was a great year and got to give credit to obviously my teammates, the power play and getting put in situations where I was able to do that."

It's not just hyperbole to suggest Batherson gets better every year.

Just take a glance at his hockeydb.com page. For every year of his eight-year career, he's improved his point totals from the year before.

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While that's an impressive stat, you might think that with all the superstars who've ever played this game, there are probably others who might also have replicated that feat.

Apparently, you'd be wrong.

According to Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas on Sportsnet's 32 Thoughts Podcast, Batherson is the first NHL player to accomplish that in 66 years. The only other player ever to do it, Bukauskas noted, was winger Vic Stasiuk, who retired in the 1960s. But from 1952 to 1960, he improved every year during his eight-year window.

If that's the case, and I can't imagine the weeks of research it would take to verify it, that would make Batherson the only guy who's ever done it from the start of his career onward.

32 goals and 72 points and improving every season definitely isn't bad for a guy who makes less than $5 million per season on a very club-friendly contract.

But the bargain will end on July 1, 2027, when Batherson becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2027, and as such, he's eligible for an extension this summer. When asked about it on the Coming in Hot Podcast on Monday, Batherson said he isn't aware of any early contract discussions.

The conversation also turned to the last couple of games of the regular season, and host Brent Wallace wondered about some of the club's stars getting to skip the game in New Jersey, and whether Batherson might like a little time off, too.

Batherson, who once told me if he weren't in the NHL, he'd be one of those guys who play in five different men's leagues, said he has zero issues in playing these games.

"I mean, I love it," Batherson said. "It's the NHL. Like, if you told me 10 years ago, I could be playing game 81 in New Jersey. I'd be like, 'A hundred percent!' I don't care what the situation is. So it's a dream come true playing every night for me. And I'm happy to be out there."

With another playoff run about to begin, the Senators are thrilled to have him as well.

For a player who’s made a habit of raising his ceiling year after year, the most intriguing part might be this: Batherson's improvement streak is an active one, so we still don’t know where this thing will top out.

How do you not take a shine to that?

Steve Warne
The Hockey News

This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:

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