If he signs 5 at 27 he can sign another 5year when hes 32 and make more money

Dont see any reason not to

He had zero leverage to ask for 5 years. McDavid signed for max term for that very reason.

Technically he did lul

If Matthews wasnt signed by a certain date someone would have gave him an OS at the range he wanted

That was the leverage.

As he said he wants to double dip in his prime years what that means is instead of 8 years on a single deal within his prime he can sign an extra deal and then one more in the coming years to maximize his earnings thats the whole reason he wanted a shorter deal. Probs signs a 13.5mill x 6 years extension next year

waiting to find out how fewer give aways to take aways he has over the next year.

Reasonable signing. To soon to give up hope that he still has some upside, but no longer expecting it.

I’m a little surprised that they gave him a 1-way contract, but it probably doesn’t matter because he’s no longer waivers exempt, so if they do try to send him down, some other team will probably pick him up.

A 1 way isn't that surprising given his resume. 100+ games in the NHL, 53 games last season at nearly 20 minutes a night on average. The caveat being it was on the team with one of the weakest defensive cores in the league, so he was basically handed the minutes despite not earning them.

I am hoping he'll be a surprise and put it all together, but I think he is gone by the end of the season. He may not be qualified next year, because he will be arbitration eligible. The Senators salary is going to be tight, and they won't want to risk Brannstrom getting awarded a higher settlement than they would have paid him, that they cannot walk away from.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that I was surprised they didn't sign him for more than one year. 2 or 3 at a similar salary wouldn't have been too much of a risk, and it would have avoided arbitration. Maybe Brannstrom wouldn't go for that. Maybe he still thinks he's going to put it all together.