Ersson’s debut as a Senator shows his dependability

One of the biggest off-season decisions that Ottawa Senators' general manager Steve Staios had to make this summer was finding a reliable 1B backup goaltender to provide some relief for Linus Ullmark. When the team acquired Swedish goalie Samuel Ersson from the Toronto Maple Leafs, it left fans feeling a bit unsure with the likes of Connor Ingram and Devon Levi available at the time. Last night in his debut in a Senators uniform during the annual Kraft Hockeyville game versus the Montreal Canadiens, he put much of that uneasiness to rest with his stoic and calm demeanor between the pipes. 

Although it is rather hard to judge a team’s performance in a preseason game, one of the few position’s that you can sometimes find some merit in is that of a goalie. The 2018 fifth round draft pick stood tall in the crease and stopped 33 of 36 shots, earning him a rather impressive 0.917 save percentage. 

More help on the blue line

The Senators iced a rather veteran heavy roster, but three of their top defencemen were out of this game. If Ersson can have Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub back on the blue line, he should have some of the league’s top defensive pairings in front of him which should mitigate the total number of shots that he faces. This was particularly noticeable when the Senators didn’t have star defenceman Sanderson quarterbacking the powerplay and defending on the penalty kill. Despite a 3-2 overtime loss, Ersson was responsible for keeping the Senators in the game for the latter half of the third period when the Senators faced back-to-back penalties. 

If we ignore the statistics and simply focus on his gameplay, he proved to be a confident netminder. His ability to make some quick cross crease saves and solid pad stops showed that he can hopefully be a reliable option in the upcoming 2026-2027 season. Although his rebound control may need some fine tuning before the regular season begins, Ersson should be a reliable option with a full NHL roster on the ice.

As Ullmark and Ersson continue to work with Maciej Szwoch, the Senators recently acquired coordinator of goaltending scouting and development, the hope is that the Swedish connection tandem will provide some much needed reassurance for the organization and fanbase.