Senators Sign Penn State Goalie Reidler to Two-Year Entry-Level Contract

Reidler's college season ended Friday the way it always does for prospects on the cusp: a 3-1 NCAA Tournament loss to Minnesota-Duluth, Penn State's run finished, pro clock starting. By Monday, Ottawa had him under contract.

The Senators signed Penn State sophomore Kevin Reidler to a two-year entry-level contract and immediately deployed the ATO mechanism to get the 21-year-old Swedish netminder into Belleville's crease picture for the final weeks of the 2025-26 season. It's a two-track move: the ELC doesn't officially start until 2026-27, but the Amateur Tryout Agreement activates now, letting Reidler practice and potentially play without burning a contract year.

That distinction matters. Under the ATO structure, Reidler joins Belleville as a non-roster addition in the professional sense; he can train with the coaching staff and serve as emergency depth without triggering his ELC clock. Once 2026-27 arrives, the two-year deal kicks in and Ottawa has two full seasons of organizational control over a prospect they selected 151st overall in the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal.

The timing is deliberate. With Mads Sogaard recently recalled to Ottawa and Hunter Shepard carrying the starting load in Belleville, the B-Sens need crease insurance as the playoff push tightens in the season's final weeks. Reidler, at 6-foot-6 and 206 pounds, gives Belleville a physically imposing option who can absorb professional pace and goalie coaching before he is counted on in a more formal capacity next fall.

"This year at Penn State has meant the world to me, not only as a hockey player, but as a person," Reidler said in a statement following the signing.

The raw numbers from his Penn State season reflect a sophomore carrying a significant workload: 11-7-0 across 18 starts, with a 3.31 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in a Big Ten program that reached the NCAA Tournament. The prior year at Nebraska-Omaha showed a sharper line, 4-1-0 with a 2.75 GAA and .920 save percentage in eight appearances, and Reidler added a silver medal with Team Sweden at the 2024 World Junior Championships.

Ottawa's preference for size between the pipes is a visible organizational thread. Sogaard stands 6-foot-7. Reidler is 6-foot-6. Ranked eighth in the Senators' prospect pool entering this season, Reidler slots into a goaltending pipeline that has prioritized big-frame netminders at every level. Where he lands in that depth chart next fall depends on Sogaard's health and how quickly Reidler adapts to the professional game, but the signing signals Ottawa views him as a legitimate long-term piece.

For now, Belleville gets a big body in net at exactly the right moment in the calendar.