Can the Ottawa Senators resurrect Samuel Ersson's career?

As calculated as it may be, the Ottawa Senators are taking a risk with Samuel Ersson.

The goaltender, who signed a two-year, $4.4-million contract with Ottawa on July 1, is coming off the worst statistical season of his career with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Making a minimum of 15 NHL starts in 2025-26, a single goalie had a save percentage worse than Ersson’s .870 — his now-teammate Leevi Meriläinen (.860).

But the Senators clearly see something in Ersson. Coach Travis Green noted on the first day of training camp Thursday that goalie coach Justin Peters and Maciej Szwoch, the team’s new coordinator of goaltending scouting and development, are confident in his abilities.

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“Well, I think he’s a pretty good goalie,” Green said. “I know the numbers didn’t say that last year, but I know he was better down the stretch.”

Indeed, Ersson was a huge factor in the Flyers scraping into the Stanley Cup playoffs in the spring. Backing up Dan Vladar, he went 6-1-0 with a .912 save percentage after Feb. 26.

It was a good note to end on. Life in the crease hadn’t been easy the past few years.

After a respectable rookie stint with the Flyers in 2022-23 at age 23, going 6-3-0 with an .899 SV%, Ersson’s numbers steadily dropped off with added responsibility. He was 23-19-7 with an .890 SV% in 2023-24, and went 22-17-5 with an .883 SV% in 2024-25.

“I mean, I got a really good opportunity in Philly, which I’m really grateful for,” Ersson said. “ Obviously, things happened there the way they did. I think I kind of had to push myself to kind of develop maybe a little bit faster, b ut that’s only a good thing.

“That’s what you want. You want to play a lot of games and I was lucky enough to have the chance t o get a lot of games on Philly, which I’m super grateful for.”