Ottawa Senators President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Steve Staios held a candid mid-season media briefing on Saturday, leaving one major question unanswered: the return date for starting goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Ullmark's Absence Remains a Mystery
Staios confirmed that the organization has no timeline for Ullmark's return from a personal leave of absence, which began a week prior. The GM emphasized the team's full support for the netminder but offered no details on the situation. "Linus knows he’s got our full support, and we’re going to respect not having a comment on that situation," Staios stated. He added that Ullmark would be given all the time he needs before rejoining the team.
Goaltending Performance Under the Microscope
The press conference shifted to the Senators' glaring performance issue in the crease. Entering their game against the Winnipeg Jets on January 3, 2026, Ottawa possessed the worst team save percentage in the NHL at .873. Staios did not shy away from this reality, acknowledging that both Ullmark and backup Leevi Merilainen have fallen short of expectations.
"We live in reality, and there are a couple of areas of our game that aren’t up to expectation," Staios said. "We can talk about goaltending, and if the goaltenders were in here, they’d be honest and tell you they haven’t played to expectations."
Ullmark's stats before his leave were a 14-8-5 record with a 2.95 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage through 28 games. Merilainen, thrust into the starter's role, held a 5-7-0 record with a 3.46 GAA and an .872 save percentage prior to facing the Jets.
Faith in Internal Solutions, For Now
Despite the troubling numbers, Staios expressed a belief that improvement will come from within the current roster. He pointed to a recent stabilization in performance and voiced confidence in the team's goaltending depth, which includes Mads Sogaard and Hunter Shepherd.
"The optimism comes that over the last month or so they have played to expectations," Staios noted. "It wasn’t the best of starts for them, but it had stabilized. I would feel comfortable in saying that it will continue to stabilize and move in the right direction."
He confirmed that, at this moment, he has no plans to actively seek a trade for a goaltender, placing his faith in Ullmark's eventual return to form and Merilainen's continued development. The Senators' ability to remain in the playoff conversation despite these struggles was noted as a silver lining, with the implication that corrected goaltending could significantly boost their postseason chances.
