The Ottawa Senators found their goaltender Saturday by signing Joonas Korpisalo to a five-year contract worth $4 million annually.
Finding a proven goalie who could possibly serve as the No. 1 option in a tandem was one of the biggest priorities facing the Senators. Anton Forsberg and prospect Mads Soogaard were under contract for next season, but there was a belief the Senators would want to add an experienced option.
Korpisalo's arrival likely means he will work in tandem with Forsberg while allowing the 22-year-old Soogaard to continue developing with the Senators' AHL affiliate.
Now that they have a Korpisalo-Forsberg tandem, it's a duo that will be tasked with helping the Senators return to the playoffs for the first time in six seasons. Inconsistency plagued the Senators during the 2021-22 season with the eventual conclusion being they finished six points adrift of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
And while the playoffs remain the goal, they'll be doing it in what could still a be a crowded landscape given the final two wild-card teams -- the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders -- had three teams that were within six points of them at the end of the season.
As for Korpisalo, he was part of a tandem with the Columbus Blue Jackets before he was moved to the Los Angeles Kings at the NHL trade deadline. He went 7-3-1 with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage with the Kings. In total, Korpisalo went 18-14-4 with a 2.87 GAA and a .915 save percentage between the Blue Jackets and the Kings.