In the midst of a second period in which the Colorado Avalanche put up a six-spot against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, TSN’s Darren Dreger announced that the Senators have inked 37-year-old veteran goaltender James Reimer to a professional tryout.
Reimer played in the NHL last season with Buffalo and Anaheim, where he appeared in 24 games with 21 starts. The goaltender compiled a 10-10-2 record with a 2.92 goals against average and an .896 save percentage.
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In his 15-year career, Reimer has a 225-187-65 record with a 2.89 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Although he has not appeared in a game this season, he recently represented Canada at the Spengler Cup, where he played in two games.
Goaltending has plagued the Senators all season.
Heading into Thursday night’s game against the Avalanche, the Senators had the third-lowest five-on-five save percentage in the NHL (88.96) per Natural Stat Trick. While shorthanded, their save percentage was an NHL-worst 80.79 percent. That mark, compared with all the data collected since the start of the 2007-08 season, ranks third-lowest in the modern statistical era.
Should the Senators miss the postseason, the blame will certainly fall on the goaltenders. They have not been good enough.
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Linus Ullmark has taken a leave of absence from the Senators for undisclosed reasons, missing the last six games. When he has played, the Senators’ no. 1 goaltender has not been strong enough. Only the St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington has a lower goals saved above expected mark than Ullmark (-9.14 GSAx).
After allowing three goals in his Colorado start, Leevi Merilainen’s GSAx mark will likely sink past Ullmark’s, giving the Senators two of the worst statistical goaltenders in the league this season.They simply have not been good enough, and the numbers bear it out.
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Ullmark: 28 appearances, 14-8-5, 2.95 GAA, .881 SV%, 1 SO
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Merilainen: 15 appearances, 6-8-0, 3.47 GAA, .868 SV%
It has been ugly, and now it has been compounded by the fact that there is no clarity on if or when Ullmark may return to play for the Senators.
Without knowing the details of why Ullmark left the team, it is impossible to gauge the long-term implications of the Reimer addition.
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Does it mean that Ullmark’s absence will be a long one?
*shrugs*
At least in the interim, his addition will bring sorely needed veteran experience in Ullmark’s absence. The Senators simply could not keep trotting out Leevi Merilainen and Mads Sogaard.
If Ullmark returns, however, Reimer’s presence will also raise questions about the position and the depth slotting at the NHL and AHL levels. Would the Senators send Leevi to Belleville to get the lion’s share of the starts? If Leevi goes to Belleville, how does that impact the slotting of Mads Sogaard and Hunter Shepard? Would the Senators simply waive Reimer once Ullmark returns to the net?
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There are so many questions that could be posed, but the only thing that matters is that the Senators could not continue to allow their porous goaltending to continue without making some effort to address it.
Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News Ottawa
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