Samuel Ersson

This Season So Far

The 2026-27 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.

Last Season

33 appearances, 14-11-5, a 3.12 goals-against average and a .8696 save percentage with no shutouts. Among the 56 goaltenders who played 25 games or more, that was the lowest in the league. The median was .896.

His career figure across 143 games is .8842.

The Physical Game

6-3, 194, and the technique has never settled. He is a reactive goaltender who relies on athleticism rather than position, and the recoveries are slow enough that the second chance is usually the goal.

Rebound control is poor and it is the most damaging weakness a goaltender can have behind a club that concedes low-danger volume, because it turns harmless shots into dangerous ones.

The Mental Game

He was a starter in Philadelphia for 2 seasons and lost the job. 14 wins in 33 appearances behind the best defensive team in the league is a difficult thing to have on a record.

The Intangibles

Ottawa finished 1st in the National Hockey League in even-strength expected goals against, conceding 139.9 at 5-on-5, and allowed 163. The goaltending came in 33 goals worse than the chances faced.

3 men are responsible. Ullmark stopped .8907 against a career .9138; Merilainen stopped .860; Ersson stopped .8696, the worst qualifying figure in the league.

He is 26 and a fifth-round pick. A club this well built in front of the net does not usually get a season like this, and it will not tolerate a second one.