Ottawa Senators Acquire Samuel Ersson

The Ottawa Senators have acquired pending RFA goalie Samuel Ersson from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick, according to a team announcement.

Ersson is due a $1.6MM qualifying offer, and TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Toronto was not planning to extend one to Ersson. Rather than let Ersson walk to free agency, they’ve turned his RFA rights into a fifth-round pick next season – just a week after they dealt a 2026 fifth-rounder for the rights to Darren Raddysh.

With this acquisition, the Senators appear to have selected Ersson as their chosen backup to Swede Linus Ullmark next season. Ersson, who is also Swedish, joins the Senators after an up-and-down three-year NHL stint with the Flyers. Philadelphia handed Ersson their No. 1 goalie job after the abrupt departure of Carter Hart, and Ersson had his moments, but ultimately finished his first full NHL campaign (2023-24) with an .890 save percentage.

Ersson wasn’t able to build on that rookie campaign the following two years, posting an .883 save percentage in 2024-25 and an .870 in 33 games last season. Ersson’s 2024-25 performance made it clear to the Flyers that he would not be a long-term tandem goalie for the team, so they signed Daniel Vladar in free agency. Vladar turned into a star in Philadelphia, posting a .906 save percentage in 52 games and finishing the season sixth in Vezina Trophy voting and earning two fifth-place Hart Trophy votes.

Vladar’s emergence, as well as the presence of ascending young goalies in the Flyers’ system, made it clear Ersson’s NHL future would not be in Philadelphia. That future, at least in the immediate term, appears to be in Ottawa. He’ll back up Ullmark, and despite his very real struggles in Philadelphia, there were at least some minor signs that he could be positioned to turn things around.

Ersson was significantly better after the Olympic break last season, posting a .912 save percentage in his nine games played. While that is an admittedly small sample, it might provide some hope that he can be a stable No. 2 for the Senators next season.