After a difficult 2025-26, the Ottawa Senators are hoping for a bounce-back season from goaltender Linus Ullmark.
When they acquired veteran goaltender Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins in the summer of 2024 and signed him to a four-year, $33-million contract, the Ottawa Senators were searching for stability in net.
And while Ullmark wasn't the sole reason why the Senators failed to take a step forward in 2025-26, there's no question that goaltending as a whole didn’t deliver the results Ottawa GM Steve Staios and Sens management were looking for.
Indeed, if you look at the three goalies the Senators used most last season, you'll see statistics that are troubling, to say the least.
This is why it's so vital that Ottawa gets a strong showing out of Ullmark this season.
In 49 appearances in 2025-26, Ullmark posted an .891 save percentage. Meanwhile, 24-year-old backup Leevi Merilainen - who was claimed off waivers by the Vancouver Canucks on Friday - had worse numbers, posting an .860 SP and 3.51 goals-against average in 20 appearances.
It got so bad in the Senators' net that they had to turn to 38-year-old James Reimer, who registered an .886 SP in 14 appearances.
So it's easy to understand why Staios looked outside of the organization to provide better support for Ullmark this season. However, the netminder the Senators now turn to as Ullmark's understudy hardly inspires confidence that he can provide Ottawa with enough above-average performances to keep the Sens in the playoff picture.
We speak of former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson, who was a temporary member of the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer before being traded to Ottawa for a fifth-round pick.
The 26-year-old's numbers in Philadelphia trended downward for three straight seasons, from an SP of .899 in 2020-21 to 2022-23, to .870 last season. Ersson's stats are in part due to playing on a rebuilding Flyers team, but you haven't seen a bidding war for the Swede for good reason – the results just aren’t there.
While the Senators need help replacing the skill set former captain Brady Tkachuk brought to the table, the bigger issue – and the area that could wind up sinking their Stanley Cup playoff hopes – is Ullmark's backup.
Ullmark has never played fewer than 40 games in a season since 2020-21, but he also hasn't played more than 49 games in that span. That means Staios and Senators coach Travis Green will almost certainly have to lean on Ersson for at least 35 games this year – and perhaps more, if Ullmark runs into injury problems.
The demand for NHL-calibre goalies greatly exceeds the supply. There aren't enough quality netminders out there, and the ones who are out there will command a greater trade price tag that most teams have the trade capital to pay for.
Look at the Senators' Atlantic Division rivals, and you'll see many, if not most, of them have better goaltending than Ottawa.
The Maple Leafs just added two-time Cup winner Sergei Bobrovsky. The Tampa Bay Lightning have star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, and they traded for up-and-comer Dennis Hildeby. The Florida Panthers brought in Jacob Markstrom, the Bruins have Jeremy Swayman, and the Montreal Canadiens have Jakub Dobes.
None of those goaltenders are without faults, but if you're an Ottawa fan, don't you have at least some cause for concern regarding Ottawa's goaltending?
Now more than ever, the Senators need Ullmark to carry this Ottawa team to a playoff position. Should he falter or be bitten by the injury bug, having Ersson as the only capable contingency plan could prove to be a disaster, and the deciding factor that keeps Ottawa out of the post-season.
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