Ottawa Senators defenceman Erik Brannstrom (26) celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during third period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, Thursday, March 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is excited about his team’s crease tandem heading into next season.
Ottawa’s general manager signed goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to a five-year, US$20-million contract as free agency opened Saturday.
Korpisalo had a .914 save percentage in 39 games last season. The 29-year-old joins Anton Forsberg in Ottawa.
“The fit was just perfect for us, that contract, that term, that tandem,” he said. “I think we’re really comfortable moving forward now with our goaltenders.”
Cam Talbot, who Dorion acquired last off-season for youngster Gustavsson in a swap of netminders at opposite ends of their careers, signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings for $1 million.
Dorion called Korpisalo his “No. 1 target” in free agency, adding he feels Ottawa addressed its biggest need, and believes the Finnish goalie is “just scratching the surface” of his potential.
Forsberg, who suffered a pair of devastating knee injuries, played in 28 games last season, posting a .902 save percentage.
Dorion said the 30-year-old netminder with two years remaining at a $2.75-million salary cap hit will be healthy by training camp.
“We’re going (into next season) with what we feel will be one of the better tandems in the league,” said Dorion. “We’d like to have guys at the calibre of (Andrei) Vasilevskiy, but there’s only a few of them.
“We feel in that next group, as a tandem, those guys will be really good. They’re good friends, I think they will push each other.”
Earlier Saturday, the Senators signed two young players ahead of next season.
Erik Brannstrom agreed to a one-year deal, while fellow defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker has signed a two-year, US$1.61 million contract.
Brannstrom’s contract is for $2 million for the 2023-24 NHL season.
The 23-year-old Swede established new career-highs in assists (16), points (18), penalty minutes (38) and games (74) with the Senators last season.
Bernard-Docker, 23, split 2022-23 between the American Hockey League and the big club.
He registerd one assist and 11 penalty minutes over 19 games with Ottawa.
Ottawa also signed forwards Rourke Chartier, Josh Currie, Bokondji Imama, Matthew Highmore and Garrett Pilon to one-year, two-way contracts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2023.
