Ottawa Senators agree to one-year contract with veteran goaltender James Reimer

By Canadian Press on January 12, 2026.

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators signed veteran goaltender James Reimer to a one-year contract on Monday.

The one-way deal with an average annual value of US$850,000 is for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, the team said in a statement.

Ottawa’s regular starting netminder, Linus Ullmark, has been on a personal leave for the last two weeks. Leevi Merilainen has carried the bulk of the workload during Ullmark’s absence with Hunter Shepard as the backup.

The 37-year-old Reimer made his NHL debut in December 2010 with Toronto. He spent his first eight seasons with the Maple Leafs.

Reimer later played for the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabres.

He has a record of 225-187-65 over 525 career regular-season games. Reimer has a goals-against average of 2.89 for his career with a save percentage of .910.

Reimer signed an AHL professional tryout contract with the Belleville Senators last week. He allowed six goals in his lone appearance.

Reimer also played two games for Canada last month at the Spengler Cup tournament in Davos, Switzerland.