Finnish Goalie Making a Strong Case For The Number Two Job With the Ottawa Senators Next Season

Reading the contractual tea leaves a few months ago, the Ottawa Senators already had a succession plan in place for their backup goalie situation next season.

Anton Forsberg is in the final year of his contract, and even if all things were equal, he’d have to elevate his game if he wanted to return to Ottawa. But he makes $2.7 million, and starter Linus Ullmark gets a big raise this fall, so things aren't equal at all.

Meanwhile, Mads Søgaard led the Belleville Senators in wins, goals-against average, and save percentage last season, and the writing appeared to be on the wall over the summer when GM Steve Staios re-signed him.

The Great Dane got a two-year contract that will see him make NHL money ($775,000) next season. That’s not the kind of money that guarantees him an NHL spot, but it’s almost $2 million less than Forsberg makes and does hint at a specific plan.

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What the Sens didn’t plan on was Søgaard getting hurt, potentially slowing his development. He hasn’t played since trying to make a lunging save against Syracuse on October 20th. That doesn’t derail the plan to have him ascend to Ottawa next season, but it has opened up the inside rail to a dark horse possibility.

Leevi Meriläinen, who got hurt around the same time Sogaard did, is back and healthy with the Belleville Senators, and as our friends at Sens Prospects point out, he’s crushing it right now.

In Sogaard's absence, Meriläinen is 7-1-2 with a .912 save percentage and a 2.11 goals-against. He has the potential to make Ottawa’s already impressive 2020 NHL Draft haul even more magical. The Sens got him in the third round with a pick they received from the Winnipeg Jets in the deal for defenceman Dylan DeMelo. No, that wasn’t part of a package deal—the third-round pick is all the Sens got for DeMelo.

But maybe Meriläinen can still make something of it.

He’s already showing he can thrive in the pro ranks, not only here but also back home in Finland. Two years ago in Finland, Meriläinen posted impressive numbers and set the Finnish league rookie record with eight shutouts.

So a number of things could happen next season behind Linus Ullmark. Maybe Forsberg turns it around and re-signs, but that seems unlikely, especially since the Sens are already giving their starter a $3.25 million raise (AAV) next year. Maybe Søgaard gets healthy soon and the Sens rejoin their regularly scheduled program already in progress, or maybe the Sens go outside the organization for a proven backup.

But don’t sleep on the idea of Meriläinen, who’s starting to turn some heads in Ottawa.

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