Ottawa Senators sign Josh Bailey to PTO contract

The Ottawa Senators have signed winger Josh Bailey to a professional tryout contract.

Bailey, 33, is an unrestricted free agent after he was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks for the purpose of buying out his six-year contract with a $5 million cap hit that he signed with the New York Islanders. Bailey would have been entering the final year of that contract had it played out.

Due to it only being a PTO, Bailey remains an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team, but he will also get an opportunity to play some hockey games with the Senators during the 2023 preseason as an audition for both Ottawa and the rest of the NHL.

Bailey is coming off a 2022-23 season that saw plenty of struggles, with only 8 goals, 17 assists, and 25 points in 64 games with the Islanders. It was Bailey’s least-productive season since the lockout shortened season in 2012-13, and least-productive in a full season since his rookie season in 2008-09. He did not get into any playoff games as the Islanders were eliminated in six games in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Bailey was a former first round pick of the Islanders, selected ninth overall in the 2008 NHL Draft. Bailey had spent the entirety of his 15-season NHL career with the Islanders until his trade and buyout this offseason.

Bailey is the first professional tryout contract given out by the Senators this offseason. They’ve made plenty of other additions to their roster this summer, including signing Joonas Korpisalo and Vladimir Tarasenko in free agency and acquiring Dominik Kubalik from the Detroit Red Wings in a deal that saw them move on from Alex DeBrincat. They currently find themselves with less than $900,000 in cap space, and still need to sign restricted free agents Shane Pinto and Egor Sokolov.