Senators GM Steve Staios takes blame for botched backup goalie plan

Ottawa Senator James Reimer talking to the media at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Monday. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

Article content

Steve Staios needs to put together a backup plan.

Article content

The Ottawa Senators president of hockey operations and general manager admitted on Monday that he should have done a better job finding a reliable backup goalie this past season.

Article content

Article content

Though Leevi Merilainen remains an option after spending the second half of the season with the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville, the Senators will scour the market for a reliable No. 2 that can play behind Linus Ullmark.

Article content

Article content

The Senators used five goaltenders this season, most because of Ullmark’s 35-day leave of absence for mental health reasons, but the position wasn’t settled until veteran James Reimer arrived in mid-January as an unrestricted free agent.

Article content

Article content

After being eliminated in four straight games by the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, the Senators off-season has started a lot earlier than anybody expected and goaltending was a big part of the conversation.

Article content

“When I talk about making decisions to help this team move forward, one where we didn’t do a good job was on the backup position,” Staios told reporters at locker cleanout day at the Canadian Tire Centre. “The process in our room when we discussed it was on Levy’s performance, and we still believe in Levy.

Article content

“His numbers were better than any of the alternative goaltenders that we were looking at. I didn’t do a good enough job of supporting Linus and that position and probably didn’t put Leevi in the best position to have success.

Article content

“We had to adjust and have James Reimer come in. He had a very positive impact on our group, both on and off the ice.”

Article content

Article content

Staios is right because if he had done a better job making sure that the Senators had a capable backup, then the desperate move to go get Reimer in January wouldn’t have been necessary.

Article content

Article content

What happened to Leevi Merilainen?

Article content

But there is also some evidence to support Staios’ assessment of Merilainen’s play. He posted an 8-3-1 record during the 2024-25 campaign with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage during a 12-game stretch when Ullmark was injured.

Article content

That earned Merilainen a one-year, $1.05-million one-way contract, but he couldn’t handle the No. 1 job when Ullmark was granted leave by the Senators on Dec. 28.

Article content

Merilainen was sent to Belleville after Reimer was signed and finished the season there. He closed out the season with a .909 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA.

Article content

The club also has Mads Sogaard in the organization, but he’s an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and the expectation is he won’t be back.

Article content

We tend to get caught up in recency bias, so everybody was thrilled to see the way that Ullmark performed in the playoffs. He finished with a 1.32 GAA and .932 save percentage in the series against the Hurricanes, but the club scored only five goals.