Ottawa Senators sign Kevin Mandolese to one-year contract
The Ottawa Senators have signed goalie prospect Kevin Mandolese to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal carries a $775,000 AAV in the NHL and $110,000 in the minors. Mandolese played three games in the NHL with the Senators this past season, with a 3.29 GAA and .916 SV%. He was one of a select few players that played in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL in one season.
Mandolese was originally selected in the sixth-round of the 2018 NHL Draft by Ottawa. There were a total of 15 goalies selected in the sixth and seventh rounds of the 2018 NHL Draft. Of these, 13 haven’t played a single game yet and the only goalie other than Mandolese to play in the NHL was Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Veini Vehvilainen, who played a grand total of 11 minutes in the 2020-21 season.
Mandolese is far from an NHL starting goaltender but he has a step up over many of his contemporaries drafted in 2018. The Blainville, Quebec native wasn’t in the Senators’ plans to play in the NHL at all this past season. However, when Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg both went down with injuries, Mandolese and Mads Sogaard were called up to fill the void. Sogaard carried most of the load, playing 19 NHL games but they also had to count on Leevi Merilainen, Magnus Hellberg, and Dylan Ferguson to step up.
The 22-year-old Mandolese played seven games last year for the Allen Americans in the ECHL and 17 games for the Belleville Senators in the AHL. He earned a .927 SV% in the ECHL and a .890 SV% in the AHL. Mandolese finds himself yet again near the bottom of the Senators’ goaltending depth chart going into the 2023-24 season.
Recently signed Joonas Korpisalo and Forsberg will be the tandem in Ottawa. Sogaard is pencilled in to be the starter in Belleville, which leaves Merilainen and Mandolese in the 4/5 slot on the depth chart. They could either keep three goalies active in Belleville, or one of Mandolese or Merilainen will have to play in the ECHL for another year.
The team also has to take Kevin Reidler into account. He was drafted by the team in 2022 and could come over to North American this season. He will likely play in the ECHL when he does.