The Ottawa Senators' goaltending situation seems like it's in a good place these days.
Linus Ullmark and Leevi Meriläinen are expected to hold down the fort at the NHL level in 2025-26, while down in Belleville, three netminders will likely duke it out for the top two AHL spots.
They've got Mads Sogaard, who will be making NHL money this season, no matter where he plays. So he's probably got dibs on the number one role. Veteran goalie Hunter Shepard just came over from the Washington Capitals organization and won back-to-back AHL titles in 2023 and 2024. So he may have the edge on the much younger Jackson Parsons for the B-Sens' number two role.
All that normalcy, a little depth and stability, are a nice change of pace because not that long ago, stability was the last word anyone would’ve used to describe goaltending in the Senators organization.
Let’s rewind to the crazy, unforgettable 2022–23 NHL campaign – the year the so-called Goalie Graveyard moniker was never more applicable.
It was the Season of 13 Goalies.
It started with optimism. The Sens had just acquired veteran Cam Talbot from Minnesota in a swap for Filip Gustavsson. Talbot was supposed to be the reliable veteran presence. Instead, he took a puck to the ribs in training camp, missed the first month, and never quite got on track. He still ended up leading the team in games played (36), but the numbers weren't great, and the Senators let him walk in free agency that summer.
Talbot ended up being another name in a series of goalies who couldn't stabilize the goaltending like Sens fans had hoped. Looking in your direction, Matt Murray and Joonas Korpisalo. No, Linus. You stay out of this. Go wait in the car, please.
Next up after Talbot was Anton Forsberg. In a game against the Edmonton Oilers in February of that season, Travis Hamonic accidentally shoved Oilers forward Zach Hyman onto Forsberg’s right leg. The result? Torn MCLs in both knees, which ended his season. Yes — both knees.
Goaltending gods, what did Ottawa do to offend you?
That left young Mads Søgaard to carry the torch for a while. He got into 19 NHL games that year, while also playing 22 down in Belleville. In true Sens fashion that season, he, too, missed time with injuries.
And the goalie carousel in Ottawa just kept spinning.
- Kevin Mandolese: 3 games
- Dylan Ferguson: 2 games
- Leevi Meriläinen: 2 games
- Magnus Hellberg: 1 game, because why not?
That’s seven different goalies in one NHL season.
Meanwhile, in Belleville? Even more chaos. The B-Sens iced ten different goaltenders that season. Count ’em:
- Antoine Bibeau – 23 games
- Søgaard – 22 games
- Mandolese – 17 games
- Ferguson – 8 games
- Logan Flodell – 5 games
- Meriläinen – 4 games
- Luke Richardson – 3 games (no, not that Luke Richardson)
- Mark Sinclair – 1 game
- Ryan Bednard – 1 game
- Lucas Peressini – 1 game
That’s a total of 13 different goaltenders used across the NHL and AHL rosters in a single season — a number that still feels absurd no matter how many times you say it.
Thankfully, we've hit better days. But Sens fans won’t soon forget that year – the legendary, chaotic, unlucky Season of 13 Goalies.
By Steve Warne
Sens Nation Hockey
Image credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
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