The Ottawa Senators have traded goaltender Kevin Mandolese and a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick.
Mandolese is the third arbitration-eligible restricted free agent from the Sens organization that has ended up with the Avalanche this summer. The others are Erik Brannstrom and Parker Kelly, who unlike Mandolese, didn’t receive a qualifying offer. Both skaters signed with the Avs as free agents.
We have acquired the rights to Kevin Mandolese and a 2026 seventh-round pick from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. pic.twitter.com/BOBGIDT0xC
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) July 15, 2024
Mandolese had an interesting timeshare last season with Belleville teammates Mads Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen. They all played between 23 and 32 games, but Mandolese had the third-best stat line.
With everyone now healthy and plenty of goalies in the system, the Sens are giving Mandolese a chance in a new place where he hopes his path to the NHL won’t be so blocked up. According to PuckPedia, Trent Miner is the only signed non-roster goalie in Colorado’s organization.
But the Sens also seemed to have an arbitration allergy this summer. They sidestepped it with Kelly and Brannstrom by letting them walk. They qualified Mandolese and Egor Sokolov and then traded them. Sokolov was dealt this month to Utah for forward Jan Jenik.
The Senators also have other goalie options in draft picks Kevin Reidler (USHL) and Vladimir Nikitin (BCHL) in their system. Reidler had a good season with Dubuque of the USHL but played out of his mind in the playoffs (7-4, 1.69, .934).
Also in the mix is London Knights goalie Michael Simpson, who signed a one-year AHL contract with Belleville. Simpson came within a goal of winning a Memorial Cup and won the Hap Emms Trophy as the tourney’s top goaltender.
At 6-foot-4, 197 pounds, Mandolese didn’t look out of place in his three-game Ottawa stint in 2022-23. Mind you, everyone got to play in Ottawa that year. Mandolese, Magnus Hellberg, Dylan Ferguson, Cam Talbot, Anton Forsberg, Sogaard, and Merilainen all tended the Senators’ goal at some point that season.
Mandolese was chosen by the Senators in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft. In Belleville, he posted a .901 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average.
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