We have made it, the time to discuss the state of the Ottawa Senators goaltending. Their star starter on a leave of absence, their 23-year-old backup thrust into the number one spot, no one with proven NHL experience elsewhere in the organization. Where do you turn? Let’s discuss.
The 2025-26 Ottawa Senators Mid-Season Review, Where Are We?
The latest development, besides Mads Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen were lit up by the Colorado Avalanche 8-2, was that James Reimer has been signed to a professional tryout. That was a necessary move, given that no one really had extensive NHL experience.
The @Senators have signed veteran goalie James Reimer to an AHL PTO. Expect Reimer to report to Ottawa in a few days with an NHL contract. Ultimately, the hope is Reimer will provide good backup to Linus Ullmark when he returns from Personal
Leave.— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 9, 2026
And this all happened right around the Sens halfway mark. Where else do you expect them to be, after coming in with lofty goals, such as a second-round Stanley Cup Playoff game? The goaltending situation isn’t quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The only reasonable explanation, is that we cannot, yet, find the panic button. We do wonder if Jason York will get be getting his own soon. We think we better find it, now.
So, let’s look at a couple stats, and warning, they’re alarming. The ratio of quality starts is the stat, you know, a great starting pitcher baseball reference. Let’s study the Sens goalies for this regard. This year, the percentage is 44.2%. Last year, as a team, it was 56.1%. For a team in the Avs, like the Sens played last night, it is 67.4%. Even the Florida Panthers, who sit just one spot ahead of Ottawa in the Atlantic Division standings, they are far better than Ottawa this year (55.8%).
To be fair, the goaltending has been bad. There’s no disputing that. The Sens are dead last at 4v5 save percentage, .804%. So what to do about it? We think waiting it out is off the table.
Next, we think that leaves one of two options. Either trade for a goalie or go out and a get a defenceman. The James Reimer option is perhaps the step they need in the right direction. They needed to do something. It may not be the final answer, but it is a step.
If Reimer doesn’t pan out, who else is available by trade? Marc-Andre Fleury was the source of recent rumours. Not to say he wants to come back, and to play for a team not necessarily a cup contender, but it wouldn’t be bad to try. Maybe Jacob Markstrom needs a resurgence. One last run, although you would need a major shift in the roster composition. It is worth considering the Sens trade deadline salary cap space. That is opposed to their current space. That is up to $10.4 million that could be a major asset. If the Sens want to salvage 2025-26, something needs to be in play. Juuse Saros would be another goalie to consider, if a shakeup is in order.
Besides the goaltending specifically, there is another angle we wish to explore. Look at the impact from around the Atlantic Division. One interesting problem is look at who is their leader in block shots. Your top power play defenceman, Jake Sanderson, should not be a blocked shot leader. Other Atlantic Division teams don’t have that scenario. You need solid defensive defencemen, with high defensive start zone percentages, leading your team in blocked shots. Someone like Nikolas Matinpalo or Tyler Kleven comes to mind, but not Jake Sanderson. However, there is another point we wish to add.
The Noah Dobson trade should have been a huge red flag for Sens management. That is a team you are in direct competition with to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs with, and they add a top-pairing defenceman. Look at Tampa and even without Victor Hedman. This has shifted into the emergence of guys like J.J. Moser and Darren Raddysh, of course, not to mention old reliable with Andrei Vasilevskiy in net.
If you go back to just 2023, where were all the Toronto Maple Leafs best defencemen playing? Chris Tanev, Brandon Carlo, Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, have all been added over the not so distant past. Moreover, don’t even bring up the Seth Jones trade to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers to any of the opposition Atlantic Division team fans.
The point is, yes the Sens goaltending needs to be better. However, the fact that the struggles have shown up in both Merilainen and Ullmark’s game, tends that there is a bigger problem. We think the defence itself needs to be better. Analytically, they tend to perform well, but the breakdowns, while not frequent, seem to be quite severe. So even though the goaltending is in question, we do think the defence needs to be held accountable, as well.
Main Photo Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images