The powerful goalkeeper duo makes it easier for the Stanley Cup champion to win. They don’t have to be Vezina Trophy-Calibre Puck-Stoppers (although it helps), but the starter must be able to steal the game, and his reserves are good enough to give his team a chance to win on any given night. Ottawa Senators’ first group Netminder Linus ullmark and his research – Anton Forsberg, the pending free agent (UFA). That’s why President and General Manager of Hockey Operations (GM) Steve Staios needs to re-sign him before the free agents open on July 1.
Although often said to him, the 32-year-old Swedish twine jewelry shows that he can be a reliable backup. When he is not loyal to the Senator’s hopes, it is often the fault of who plays in front of him, not his fault. Not only that, but with a salary of $2.75 million this season, he is a bargain.
Fosberg doesn’t have a good alternative to serving as a backup goalkeeper for the Senator
The free agent market for goalkeepers is very thin this year. The percentage of career savings available for Senators in Fosberg (SV%) is .904, while the target average (GAA) is 3.04, which does not provide much improvement.
With UFA Ville Huso this season, he won $4.75 million. He was sent there at the 2025 Detroit Red Wings to defend the Anaheim Ducks’ crease in exchange for future considerations. Over the past three seasons, he has earned a SV% of .892 and a GAA of up to 3.26 on the Red Wings. He has played in just 32 games in the past two seasons.
Florida Panthers’ Vitek Vanecek will be UFA this summer, but for the $3.4 million he’s earned over the past two seasons, he’s inputting a disappointing SV% below.900. The upcoming UFA Alexandar Georgiev didn’t perform better, he earned as much as Fosberg this season but earned a SV% of 3.88 in the San Jose Sharks GAA, which was 3.88.
It seems that New Jersey Devil’s Jake Allen will snap up on July 1. For the $3.85 million he earned this season, he earned a considerable SV% in 31 games, with a GAA of 2.66. While that’s a little better than what Fosberg has done in his 30 games this year, that doesn’t make him worth more than $1 million.
The purpose of all this is that there is no free agent goalkeeper that can improve things between the Senators’ pipelines. So, what you might ask is, who is available in the senator’s pipeline?
The short answer is that no one is as stable as Fosberg. Hopefully someday from Senator Belleville to a big club someday, but he hasn’t proven he’s ready to do it as soon as possible, which may still be high. Last year, he played just two games at a large Ottawa club and allowed eight goals in 40 strokes. In his 29 NHL games, he dates back to the 2022-23 season, with his SV% below .879 and his GAA of 3.55. That’s why some people put more stocks in his Belleville goalkeeper Leevi Merilainen.
Related: Ottawa Senator Needs Goalkeeper for the 2025 Draft
Indeed, in 12 games with Ottawa’s 6-foot-3 Finn this season, his GAA recorded a SV of 1.99 and .925. Still, there are only 12 games without pudding that prove anything. Not only that, but also to Merilainen, because for a 22-year-old, Ullmark backup might be too early.
Some people think that Stouses can upgrade to Fosberg this summer. However, in a market scarce in a market, trying this market could swallow up most of the Senators’ current $15 million free salary cap – most of which are dedicated to re-signing other pending UFAs.
Fosberg should sign a new contract with the senator
One way to look at Fosberg is that he is a low-risk, cheap insurance policy, and for a team he will win the best shot of Lord Stanley’s silverware will be in the next three seasons. His command volume will not exceed his current annual salary of $2.75 million, which gives Staios more cap space to solve other more stressful problems. As I argued in recent works Hockey writerthe Senator’s goalkeeper is stable enough that Staios should use his limited ceiling space to focus on adding more scoring talents to improve his roster.
Related: Senators’ best shots in the Stanley Cup are over the next three seasons
Since tearing two medial collateral ligaments (MCLs) in 2023 and playing 30 games this season, his statistics are better than average NHL goalkeepers, while Ullmark’s average performance is equivalent to Forsberg’s performance. That was in 2021-22, when he recorded a SV% of .917, while the GAA was 2.82 for the Senate Team, completing 26Th In the league. If he can repeat the show next season, the Senator will have one of the most active goalkeepers in the NHL.
If Staios does think Merilainen or Sogaard is about to become an NHL-Calibre goalkeeper, re-signing Forsberg as a one- or two-year contract can give him time to secure and insured.
Fosberg’s Key, Senator takes the next step in 2025-26
The goalkeeper does not doubt whether the Senator will take the next step in 2025-26. Forsberg has moved closer to removing this question with Ullmark’s backup than any other option in front of the club. The Senator is in singles and Fosberg is one of the keys to achieving that.
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