Ridly Greig signed a four-year, $13 million contract with the Ottawa Senators on Friday. It has an average annual value of $3.25 million.
The 22-year-old forward has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 37 games this season. He could have become a restricted free agent after the season.
"It's exciting," Greig said Friday. "I'm fired up to be a Sen for the next four.
"It doesn't really change much for me; I'm hopefully going to stay the same and keep my head down and work. But I'm just thankful for the staff and everybody for believing in me."
Selected by Ottawa with the No. 28 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Greig has 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) in 129 games with the Senators over three seasons.
"It's awesome," Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. "You obviously just get so excited for the hard work and perseverance [paying off] especially for Ridly. Not just exciting for him, but exciting for his whole family and friends and everybody that's kind of helped him along the way, that's felt a part of it. It's always great to see."
"He's such an awesome guy, awesome teammate and such a good pro already at the age that he's at. Something I look up to, knowing him, is how he prepares himself for a game every single night. It's amazing to see and I'm so happy for him."
Senators coach Travis Green said Greig was deserving of the contract.
"It's good news," Green said. "I'm happy for him. Anytime a player gets rewarded with a new contract, you're happy for them as individuals. He's having a good season, he's a good young player, he's got a bright future in the league. He's a player you like and enjoy coaching."
"He does a lot of things that go unnoticed. What I like about Ridly's game is that it's still a work in progress; he's still becoming a better player. We've seen a lot of improvements in his game as the course of the year's gone on. It's not always in areas that show up on the scoresheet. His penalty killing has gotten a lot better from Day 1, his play on the wall, he can play left wing, right wing, he played center last night part way through the game (in a 4-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres). Those kinds of players are very valuable. And he's a hard player to play against, as well."
Greig said: "I think I can play up and down the lineup, for sure. I think we've seen that throughout the year so far. I think 'Greener' can kind of put me wherever he wants and I'll put my head down and just work for him."
NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report
