After a pair of well played pre-season games against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, there are some takeaways for the 2025-26 Ottawa Senators when it comes to their goaltending situation. It seems like a foregone conclusion that backing up starter Linus Ullmark will be Leevi Merilainen. The next man up would be Mads Sogaard. After them, there are a couple other depth pieces around in Jackson Parsons and Hunter Shepard. Both of them were released from NHL camp Thursday, but only Shepard had to clear waivers. So, with all this in mind, let’s try to figure out how the sum of the parts fit together in the Sens net for 2025-26.
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Ottawa Senators Goalies and Your Number One
Let’s start on top and that’s none other than their number one goaltender, Linus Ullmark. He allowed three goals on eight shots in the 4-3 loss to Toronto on Sunday. We have seen times where Ullmark could fall into the category of being somewhat inconsistent. Also, he’s not necessarily accustomed to a big work load. The 32-year-old has appeared in between 40 and 49 games in each of the past four seasons. That includes his time with the Boston Bruins. Now, just from one period of work this preseason, we don’t have any legitimate concerns, obviously. When he’s on, it is difficult to argue he’s not elite.
This is the man that won the 2022-23 Vezina Trophy as league’s best goalie. Looking back to 2024-25 with the Sens, Ullmark ended the year on a 12-3-0 run. Also, for a stretch in early December he went 7-0-0. Furthermore, throughout the course of the entire season, of all the games when he faced at least 20 shots, 19 times he had a .919 save percentage or better. That included four shutouts. He really is the type of goalie that can steal you games. The type of goalie the Sens are lucky to have as a starter.
However, we seen evidence last year, as he missed time more than once with minor ailments. This speaks to the need to have reliable depth at the position for the organization. In contrast, he was ready to go when it mattered most, down the stretch and in the playoffs. Therefore, there’s no reason to believe he can’t be there for the Sens when they need it most, once again. That makes him a strong number-one goalkeeper, on an overall strong team.
So beyond Ullmark, that is what Sen fans are really interested in. Ullmark will get them 45 games, give or take. But what about the other 35-40 NHL games? This NHL season is experiencing a somewhat compacted schedule, given the Winter Olympic break in February. In fact, the club faces 13 back-to-back scenarios, many of those coming later in the season. It’s going to be a grind, injuries will pop up, and that’s where their depth and accountability will come into play.
The Next One is Leevi Merilainen
The idea is that the 35-40 NHL games for someone not named Ullmark to start might be a lot for young Leevi Merilainen. That does seem like a big number for a guy with only 14 games of NHL experience under his belt. In contrast, he has been impressive in those games, posting a .919 save percentage. Also, if you dig into his professional hockey career trajectory, maybe he can handle the load. Last year he played 12 games for the big Senators, but he backstopped the Belleville Senators 37 times, for 49 pro games total. The year before that, split between the ECHL and the AHL, he saw 37 games of action. And one more, in 2022-23, he played 42 games for Karpat of the Liiga in his native Finland.
Leevi stays very composed and calm in the net. He showed us against the Leafs and their lineup of loaded snipers. In addition, he does a good job of staying in the middle of the net. He’s talented and a puckstopper, what more do you want? The Leaf stars came at him in waves at times, yet he maintained his composure, eh. Therefore, even though Merilainen is young, he should be able to handle the level of responsibility thrust his way for this upcoming campaign and the expectations that come along with it. Along with Merilainen and Ullmark, this writer is not ready to give up on who’s next.
The Rest of the 2025-26 Ottawa Senators Goalies
In terms of Sogaard’s play, it does seem like the team plays a more defensive style when he’s minding the net. The organization and Sogaard personally wants him to develop some semblance of rhythm. Whether that is in the AHL or NHL is rather irrelevant. This is a guy who was a very highly-touted goaltending prospect as a teenager. If he can manage to stay healthy, he can still carve out a solid, professional hockey career.
Granted, his 3.55 goals-against average and .879 save percentage in 29 career NHL games are a head scratcher. However, as we have alluded to, he does sport a 11-11-3 record in those games, and that was behind some injury-depleted lineups back to the 2022-23 season, in particular.
The important thing is that the team hasn’t quit on Sogaard. A lot of these guys grew up and developed together. They don’t want to see each other fail. Yes, Sogaard gets a bad rap for allowing bad goals. But his win-loss record isn’t all that bad, plus a lot of his struggles have been the result of injuries. Typically, it takes bigger goalies that are injury prone a little longer to develop. You’ve seen it with the likes of Anthony Stolarz.
Let’s also not forget, Sogaard did have a very strong 2023-24. That year with Belleville he posted a .916 SV% through 32 games. He was limited to just ten games last year, split between Ottawa and Belleville, as a result of injury.
As training camp winds down, and the regular season starts, the problem arises with contracts and playing time. Sogaard would have to clear waivers and with his $775K salary, it’s quite possible a team snaps him up. It’s not really ideal to leave him in the press box, because that further stunts his development. The question does become if the team favours Merilainen in the NHL over progressing Sogaard’s career. The Sens could use Sogaard as a depth piece. Hunter Shepard would likely be the next in line, as he has done well throughout his AHL career. Merilainen is waiver exempt still, so he could start the year in the AHL still, to get Sogaard some action before going on waivers. But the top option is likely a three-goalie rotation in the NHL, for that extra layer of security.
The one final option we will mention is the accountability factor. This is one possible reason general manager Steve Staios has that approximately $3.5 million of salary cap space available. That would be a decent amount to find a backup if need be.
Main Photo Credit: Marc DesRosiers – Imagn Images
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