The Ottawa Senators added some much-needed grit to the lineup on Thursday, signing Zack MacEwen to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $775,000, the team announced.

The 26-year-old scored four goals and 10 points in 56 games for the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings last season. He was traded from Pennsylvania to California prior to the NHL's trade deadline for Brendan Lemieux and a 2024 fifth-round pick.

The unrestricted free agent was not qualified by the Kings, and will move back to his home country. He is a native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and was signed as undrafted free agent by the Vancouver Canucks in March of 2017.

“Zack's a player with strong character who will add increased physicality to our lineup,” Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said in a statement. “He's a hard-nosed, competitive player who's a tenacious forechecker and who demonstrates a routine willingness to go to the hard areas.”

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The undrafted forward played two-plus seasons of major junior hockey with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Moncton Wildcats and the Gatineau Olympiques. He finished second in team scoring with Gatineau in 2016-17, tallying 31 goals, 43 assists and 74 points.

He also played two games for the Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season, where he registered a goal and three points.

Zack MacEwen racked up 66 penalty minutes and 150 hits in 2022-23, and 110 the season before; that ranked ninth in the National Hockey League. Overall, he's played 186 games for the Canucks, Flyers and Kings, scoring 13 goals, 28 points and amassing 245 penalty minutes.