The Tampa Bay Lightning opened NHL free agency by adding three players on one-year, two-way contracts, bringing in goaltenders Mads Sogaard and Olivier Rodrigue along with defenseman Michael Callahan.
The goaltending side of the move gives Tampa Bay more depth in a position that already got a boost when the club acquired Dennis Hildeby from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the deal that sent Nick Paul to their division rival.
Sogaard arrives with plenty of prospect buzz, even if the NHL results with the Ottawa Senators never really took hold. He appeared in only two games for Ottawa last season, finishing 0-1-0 with a 4.65 goals-against average and a .833 save percentage. In the AHL with the Belleville Senators, the Danish netminder went 7-13-4 in 27 games and posted a .369 GAA, a .874 SV% and one shutout.
He also had one start for Denmark at the Winter Olympics, allowing five goals on 37 shots in a loss to the eventual gold medalists, the United States.
Rodrigue spent 2025-26 with the Rockford IceHogs, Chicago’s top farm team, and put together a 4-3-1 record in 10 games with a 3.20 GAA and a .891 SV%. Before that, he got his first taste of NHL action with the Edmonton Oilers organization, making his debut and going 0-1-0 in two games with a .310 GAA and a .862 SV%. Across 141 regular-season AHL games, the Quebec native owns a career mark of 65-55-18, along with a 2.94 AA, a .904 SV% and two shutouts.
Callahan’s season was more about steady minutes than scoring punch. He played five games for the Boston Bruins last season without recording a point, then logged 56 appearances for the Providence Bruins, where he scored two goals and added 14 assists for 16 points. His work helped Providence finish with the best record in the AHL.
In Other News...
Another Former Senator Is Following Brady Tkachuk To Florida
Another former Senator is heading to South Florida, with Lars Eller agreeing to a one-year deal with the Panthers in free agency and setting up a reunion with Brady Tkachuk. Ellers stint in Ottawa was a short one, but he brought veteran depth and a steady presence before moving on, and now he joins a Florida group that has been busy adding familiar names from the Senators recent roster.
Donovan Sebrango also landed a one-year contract with the Panthers after reaching free agency, giving Florida another Ottawa connection after he was previously claimed off waivers from the Senators. The Panthers have also brought in former Senator Boko Imama, making the pipeline from Ottawa to Florida even more noticeable as the two teams continue to cross paths in the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Claude Giroux Decision Could Change Everything For The Senators
The first day of NHL free agency brought plenty of movement around the league, but Claude Giroux was still sitting there as one of the biggest names left unsigned. For Ottawa, that matters because the market is already thinning around the kind of experienced forwards teams lean on when the money gets tight and the options get fewer.
Girouxs next step is shaping up to be one of the more important decisions of the summer for the Senators, especially with so many teams still sorting through their budgets and their depth charts. Ottawa has work to do in a market where scoring help is still available, but the longer this drags on, the more this becomes about where Giroux sees himself fitting for what could come next. [Read more 🡒]