The Senators have agreed with RFA goalie Mads Søgaard on a two-year contract, per a team announcement. It’s a two-way deal in 2024-25 before upgrading to a one-way in 2025-26. It comes in with a $775K cap hit and will pay him $225K in the AHL next season.
Søgaard, 23, made his NHL debut with Ottawa in 2021-22 and has served primarily as their third-string netminder since. The 2019 second-round pick brings his gargantuan 6’7″ frame to the crease, yielding some rather strong numbers on the farm with AHL Belleville last season. He posted a .916 SV% and 2.45 GAA with an 18-9-3 record in 32 appearances, all setting or hovering around career highs.
But while the Dane has shown solid development at the minor league level, he’s yet to succeed with any consistency in his NHL time. Over 24 starts and three relief appearances over the past three seasons, he’s struggled with a .884 SV% and 3.44 GAA, although he’s managed to help keep the Sens in float in front of him nonetheless with a 10-10-3 record. His advanced metrics aren’t pretty, though, as he’s conceded 15.2 goals above the average netminder during his limited run in the Ottawa crease, per Hockey Reference. He particularly struggled in his call-up action this season, limping to a .859 SV% and 4.05 GAA in six appearances with a 1-3-0 record. Søgaard allowed 10.3 goals above expected in just 282 minutes of action, per MoneyPuck, more than backup Anton Forsberg allowed over the course of 30 games.
Sens general manager Steve Staios called this season an “important stepping stone” for Søgaard in the team’s press release, and it’s easy to see why. He won’t start the season on the NHL roster with Forsberg still under contract and Linus Ullmark set to be their new starter after being acquired from the Bruins last month. But he will remain their top call-up option from Belleville should injuries affect either of the two, and they’ll look for him to at least get closer to a league-average save percentage when given a chance.
Søgaard is still under team control for another four seasons. He’ll be an RFA once again when his deal expires in 2026.