Drake Batherson

Playing career

Amateur

Following the 2014–15 season with the Valley Wildcats, Batherson was selected by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in the sixth round, 97th overall, of the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft. In his first season of major junior hockey, he split the 2015–16 season between the Wildcats and Screaming Eagles, appearing in ten games with Cape Breton, recording two assists for two points. He joined the Screaming Eagles full-time for the 2016–17 season for his rookie season and scored 22 goals and 58 points in 61 games. The Screaming Eagles qualified for the playoffs and advanced to the second round where they were eliminated by the Charlottetown Islanders. In 11 playoff games, he registered seven goals and 12 points.

He returned to the QMJHL for the 2017–18 season, splitting the year between the Screaming Eagles and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, to whom he was traded on January 2, 2018. In 24 games with Cape Breton, he tallied 17 goals and 39 points. The Armada won the league title as best overall regular season team and went to the playoff final before being defeated by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Batherson led the QMJHL in points during the 2018 playoffs, scoring 13 goals and adding 20 assists.

Professional

Leading into the National Hockey League (NHL)'s 2017 entry draft, Batherson was ranked 117th among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Services. He was considered undersized and was selected in the fourth round, 121st overall by the Ottawa Senators. On October 3, 2017, the Senators signed Batherson to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Batherson began the 2018–19 season with the Senators' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Belleville Senators. After recording 20 points in 14 games, he was recalled by Ottawa on November 12. Batherson made his NHL debut with the club on November 15. He scored his first career NHL goal (a game-winning goal) on his first shot in a 2–1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. He recorded three goals and eight points before being returned to the AHL on December 18. Batherson found immediate success in the AHL and was later selected to participate in the 2019 AHL All-Star Game, where he scored five goals for the North Division and was named Most Valuable Player. On February 8, 2019, Batherson set a Belleville Senators franchise record for most goals by a rookie in a season when he scored his 12th goal of the season. He had a brief second call-up to the Senators in late February before returning to the AHL to finish the season on a line with Nick Paul and Logan Brown. He was named the AHL Rookie of the Month for February 2019. He completed the season having appeared in 20 games with Ottawa, marking three goals and nine points. In 59 games he scored 22 goals and 62 points with Belleville. He was named to the AHL's 2019 All-Rookie Team.

In 2019–20, Batherson split the season between Belleville and Ottawa. He began the season with Ottawa, making the team out of training camp, but after two games, was assigned to Belleville. During the 2019–20 AHL season, Batherson was again chosen to participate in the 2020 AHL All-Star Game after leading the league in scoring. During his time in Belleville, Batherson set franchise records for goals, assists and points. He was recalled by Ottawa in January 2020 and remained with the team until February 23, when he was sent back to Belleville. However, the season was paused on March 12, 2020, and then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 23 games with Ottawa, he tallied three goals and ten points and in 44 appearances with Belleville, he scored 16 goals and 54 points.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 NHL season, Batherson made the Ottawa roster out of training camp. In February 2021, Batherson tied the Ottawa Senators' all-time record of scoring goals in six consecutive games. On April 17, he marked a three-point game, scoring twice and assisting on Artem Zub's first period goal in a 4–0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens. He finished the season tied for second on the team in goals with 17 goals and fourth in points with 36 in 56 games.

International play

Batherson was selected to play for Canada's national junior team at the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. At the tournament, he broke out offensively, leading the team in goal scoring and came second in the tournament overall behind American Kieffer Bellows. He scored two goals in the quarterfinals as Canada beat Switzerland 8–2 and then followed that with a hat trick against Czechia in the semifinal 7–2 victory. In the gold medal game, he set up Tyler Steenbergen's game-winning goal in a 3–1 victory over Sweden.

He was invited to Canada's senior team for the 2022 IIHF World Championship. In the quarterfinals against Sweden, Batherson scored the winning goal in overtime. In the semifinal game versus Czechia, he recorded two assists. Canada advanced to the final, in which they lost to Finland 4–3, earning the silver medal.

Personal life

Batherson has strong family ties to the Senators. He is the son of Norm Batherson, a former professional player who once played for the Ottawa organization with the Prince Edward Island Senators and the Thunder Bay Senators. His uncle Dennis Vial played several seasons with Ottawa in the 1990s and was one of the NHL's most frequent fighters over that time.

Though he grew up in Germany and Canada, Batherson was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana while his father played for the Fort Wayne Komets, and thus he possesses dual Canadian/US citizenship. Early on, he honed his hockey skills in Germany, where his father played seven seasons of pro hockey with four different teams after his North American career had ended. He was then raised in New Minas, in the Annapolis Valley region of western Nova Scotia, where the family settled after his father retired from professional hockey in 2006.

Batherson's sister Mae was drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 PWHL draft by the Minnesota Frost. His great uncle is Canadian Juno Award-nominated musician Matt Minglewood.

Career statistics