Though it has been no secret that the Senators’ goaltending has left a lot to be desired this season, statistics have come to the fore to highlight exactly how bad.
Not since the Ottawa Senators’ second season in the league, when they won 14 games out of 84, have the Senators had a lower combined team save percentage than they had a few days ago (.865).
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One could hardly compare the lineup that suited up that season to the 2025-26 team that currently sits 8th in the Atlantic with a 23-20-7 record through 50 games.
The Senators have not had a great track record as an organization with drafting goaltenders.
In fact, they have never drafted a goaltender who has occupied the status of #1 starter for the Ottawa Senators. Robin Lehner in the second round in 2009 and Joey Daccord in round seven in 2015 both went on to start elsewhere but played very little for the Senators.
No sense crying over spilled milk. It’s time to examine the pipeline and see if help is on the way. For argument’s sake, Leevi Merilainen will not be part of this evaluation.
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Mads Sogaard, Age 25, Belleville Senators – Selected in 2nd round of 2019 NHL Draft
Though Sogaard is on a one-way deal, he has never shown the ability to stay healthy at any level, nor has his play been consistent at the NHL level.
He has moved from the status of prospect to suspect, and unless he can seize the reins and put the B-Sens on his back for a nice playoff run, his future with the Senators could be coming to an end.
As it stands right now, his numbers in the AHL this season are very pedestrian, though injuries have limited Sogaard to only 15 starts. There is still time to make something of this season, but the sands in Sogaard’s hourglass are running out quickly.
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Jackson Parsons, Age 21, Belleville Senators/Allen Americans – 2025 free agent signing
Parsons has only played 12 games thus far this season and is currently back in Allen, Texas, where he can start more regularly. He spelled Sogaard during his injury absence and acquitted himself nicely.
Parsons is something of a late bloomer who was never drafted, yet he won goalie and overage player of the year for the 2024-25 OHL season.
For a rookie season, he got on the radar in a good way, and now that Hunter Shephard is back in the AHL, Parsons can continue his development with regular work. The 21-year-old Embrun native is a work in progress, but his trajectory is headed in the right direction. His numbers have been very respectable, and at 6’2” and 200 lbs, he has the frame of an NHL goalie.
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The real issue is that the Senators need an NHL goalie, and right now, Parsons is still proving himself as an ECHL starter.
Definitely a prospect, but a starter prospect? Time will tell.
Kevin Reidler, Age 21, Penn State University – Selected in 5th round of 2022 NHL Draft
The 6-foot-6 Swedish netminder has never had a save percentage below .900 since being drafted. But except for his time in Dubuque (USHL), he hasn’t been a starter.
Last year at the University of Nebraska/Omaha appears to have been a write off with only eight starts due to some issues with his back. But he did post a .920 save percentage in those games.
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Through the transfer portal, Reidler is now at Penn State, playing with the presumptive number one overall selection in 2026, Gavin McKenna. Reidler has also played more than half the games with some impressive results (9-3, 2.92, .910).
Again, until he proves himself capable of being a number one goalie in the NCAA, it’s hard to view him as more than a B-level prospect.
Reidler’s height is intriguing, assuming he has the athletic ability to leverage it. But if the 6-foot-7 Mads Sogaard is any indication, Reidler may need extra time to adjust to his height before becoming a goalie who could suit up for the parent club.
More to follow on this one.
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Vladimir Nikitin, Age 21, New Hampshire Mountain Kings (NAHL) – Selected in 7th round of 2023 NHL Draft
To say that Nikitin has taken the scenic route since being drafted would be an understatement.
The Kazakh goaltender has played in the BCHL (2023-24), RUS-MHL (2024-25 top junior league in Russia), back to the BCHL with the Nanaimo Clippers (2024-25), USHL (2025-26) and moving yet again to the NAHL (2025-26) where he currently resides.
He also represented Kazakhstan at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa in 2025.
Changing teams in two of the three seasons since being drafted does not scream prospect and his numbers are just okay.
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His WJHC appearance revealed a vulnerable trapper.
Not writing him off, but like the Senators in the current NHL standings, Nikitin doesn’t just need to improve his play, but he also has other people ahead of him that he needs to catch.
Lucas Beckman, Age 18, Chicoutimi Sageneens, Selected in 4th round of 2025 NHL Draft
This one is a little intriguing. Up until recently, Beckman was playing for the worst team in the QMJHL, Baie Comeau, where he was getting shelled almost every night as their starting goalie.
Somehow, he still managed to post a .905 save percentage.
Beckman has now been traded to Chicoutimi, the best team in the league, and after missing some time with injury, he’s now returned to the lineup. The Senators are hoping he can go on a long playoff run and get some valuable experience.
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Still just 18, with a good run the rest of the season, Beckman could end up as part of Canada’s World Junior conversation. He represented Canada at the World U18s last year.
The key point here is that Beckman has a starting goaltender pedigree and a potential championship QMJHL team thought enough of him to acquire him for their run.
It’s too early to ordain Beckman as the future but it seems clear that he has one.
Andrei Trofinov, Age 19, Magnitigorsk RUS-MHL, Selected in 7th round of 2025 draft
With the likes of Bobrovsky, Vasilevskiy, Shesterkin, Sorokin and even Askarov all starting in the NHL with pretty impressive starting goalie resumes, it’s hard to blame the Senators for wanting to see if they could strike gold in Russia as well.
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That said, two of them were first round selections and none were chosen in the seventh round after being passed over in their first year of eligibility.
It’s early with this one and if the Russian Federation starts to take note of him, Sens Nation should as well, but not before then.
The Senators have not drafted a goalie in the first round since Mathieu Chouinard in 1998, and they drafted him twice.
Things could change, but looking at this stable of goalies, other than Beckman, it’s hard to see anyone who is currently tracking to be a potential starting goalie in the NHL. Regardless, their help is still years away, and barring a trade, the Senators have no choice but to rely on their current group to hold the fort.
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Pat Maguire
The Hockey News – Ottawa
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