Ottawa fixed its backup goalie problem by making it worse

Ottawa waived Leevi Merilainen on Thursday. Vancouver claimed him. That left Ottawa one business day before its October 3 opener to find a new backup. What it found is a goalie who was worse than the one it just gave away.

Jonas Johansson comes over from Tampa Bay for future considerations. That's trade-speak for "we're not telling you." He posted an .884 save percentage and a 3.29 goals-against average over 25 games with the Lightning last season. Those are numbers a backup can survive. They're not numbers anyone should be trading for on purpose.

Merilainen had the better underlying case to keep a roster spot. Ottawa let him walk for nothing rather than eat two years of Johansson's contract. Instead, they're the ones eating it now.

The move reads like a camp-cuts scramble, not a plan. Tampa Bay trimmed its roster to 37 on Thursday. Rather than release Johansson outright and get nothing, it found a taker.

The Lightning clear a bit of cap room behind a crease they'd already sorted. The Senators fill a spot they emptied themselves less than 24 hours earlier.

Cap sheet:

• Tampa Bay: sheds Johansson's $1.25M AAV (signed May 2025, two years, through 2026-27); frees a roster spot behind its set tandem.
• Ottawa: takes on that same $1.25M AAV for a goalie who now projects as the No. 2 behind its starter, while Merilainen — the guy they had for less risk a day earlier — belongs to Vancouver.

Johansson is 31, in his seventh NHL season, with stops in Buffalo, Colorado, Florida and now Tampa before this one. He's a fine insurance policy if the starter needs a night off in October. He's a strange thing to trade for the week your actual backup was free.

The real story isn't the goalie. It's the sequencing. Waiving a serviceable backup and trading for a worse one two days later isn't a plan working out.

It's a front office that didn't like its options and picked the one that cost a phone call instead of a headline. Ottawa's crease is fine at the top. Below it, they've somehow made themselves less safe than they were on Wednesday.

What's next: Johansson reports to Ottawa's camp with days to get comfortable before games count. If he struggles, this is the trade that gets brought up all winter, every time the Senators need an emergency start.