Ottawa Senators Dealt Major Blow to Goaltending Situation
The Ottawa Senators have had issues lately. Issues regarding their goaltending situation only got worse on Saturday. Backup netminder Anton Forsberg will be out indefinitely after tearing his ACL in both knees on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers.
The injury came in a battle for the puck around the crease area, and Oilers forward Zach Hyman was pushed into Forsberg. Forsberg went down and was immediately in pain and not moving well.
After a few minutes of trainers attending to him, the stretcher was brought out, and Forsberg was taken out of the game.
The Ottawa Senators were dealt a major blow to their goaltending situation.
Forsberg was 11-11-2 with a GAA of 3.26 and a .902 save percentage with 2 shutouts in 28 games. He was the backup to start the season until starter Cam Talbot injured himself and was put on the shelf. Now that the starter and backup are injured, what do the Ottawa Senators do?
Third-string goaltender Mads Sogaard filled in for Forsberg after the injury on Saturday. The belief is that Sogaard will be the starter until Talbot, who has been skating as of late, returns to the crease full-time.
Sogaard will assume the duties as the Senators do not have a backup with any significant NHL time. Ottawa will have to go to its AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, to grab either Logan Flodell or Kevin Mandolese to fill that backup role.
Forsberg was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2011 with the 188th pick in the seventh round. He was acquired by the Ottawa Senators off of waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on March 7, 2021.
In his career, Forsberg is 48-57-11 with three shutouts, a 3.08 GAA, and a .908 save percentage.
Although a move has not yet been made to fill that void, it is a wonder how they do so. Do they recall either Flodell or Mandolese? Or do they sign a goalie for solely backup purposes?
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They do have $3.36 million in projected cap space to pursue another goaltender, but do they explore options with Talbot skating lightly again? Sogaard is a capable goaltender to fill the starter’s role on a short-term basis, but is he capable of carrying a team long-term?