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What Staios Really Said About the Senators’ Goaltending

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | By Old Prof | Last updated Jan 3, 2026 3:43 PM ET

When Steve Staios says he has “full faith” in his goaltending, it’s worth slowing down and listening to how he says it, not just what the words are. General managers don’t choose that phrase by accident. “Full faith” is part reassurance, part public posture, and part quiet acknowledgment that the position he’s talking about is always walking a tightrope.

All NHL Goaltenders Live Under a Microscope

Goaltending, as Staios rightly pointed out, lives under a microscope. Every team in the league knows this. You can survive a bad stretch from a winger. You can even patch over defensive mistakes for a while. But when goaltending wobbles, it shows up fast, and it shows up for everyone to see. That’s why Staios kept circling back to the same idea: this isn’t panic time, but it is evaluation time.

Linus Ullmark being on leave complicates the Senators’ conversation, but it doesn’t change the organization’s internal math. Staios made it clear that he believes in the group. That group includes Anton Forsberg, Mads Søgaard, and the younger goalies still coming through the system.

It’s not that they’ve been perfect. Still, as a group, they’ve been good enough to keep Ottawa in the playoff picture. That’s an important distinction. He wasn’t selling excellence. He was selling the possibility.

And here’s where it gets interesting.

For Staios, the Senators’ Goalies Have to Improve “Just a Little”

Staios admitted, almost casually, that if the Senators’ goaltending improves “just a little bit,” the numbers say they’re right there. That’s how the Senators see it internally. Ottawa isn’t asking for Vezina-level play. They’re asking for fewer leaky nights, fewer momentum-killers, and fewer games where the margin disappears early. He believes there needs to be incremental improvement, not salvation.

Staios’ comments tell fans where the Senators think they stand. This isn’t a team trying to survive the season. It’s a team that believes the foundation is solid enough that one position doesn’t need to carry them. The goalies’ main job is to play well enough to keep their team in games.

Staios Is Patient with His Goalies

There’s also patience baked into Staios’ comments, especially when he talks about young goaltenders. For him, goalie development isn’t linear. For a former NHL defenceman who lived in front of the crease, he gets it. You don’t rush goalies or bury them after ten bad games. You let the work catch up to the talent.

Staios says he has full faith. But that faith is realistic. The kind that understands how fragile the position is, how quickly things can turn, and how thin the ice always feels when your season depends on a save or two going the other way.

The message wasn’t blind optimism. It was controlled belief — and in this league, that’s usually the honest version.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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