When you’re 37 years old and have played for seven NHL teams through your 15-year NHL career, it’s more likely than not that former teammates from along the journey will be on whichever team you join next.
Such is the case for midseason free agent addition James Reimer, who has played with three Senators before — all in the last handful of years. In San Jose, the netminder spent two years with Fabian Zetterlund. In Detroit, he spent a season with David Perron. And in Buffalo last season, he played with Dylan Cozens before Cozens was traded to Ottawa. All had positive things to say about their “new” teammate.
“Yeah, he texted me the other day, and I was just super excited for him,” Perron told Sens360. “I think he’s a guy that will just come in here excited to have an opportunity, big smile on his face, obviously desperate to try and make an impact as soon as he can to help the guys out. And he’s a pro, I think he knows what it takes, and you can tell he’s missed being around the room, so it’s awesome for him.”
Zetterlund spent the most time with Reimer, and described the veteran as a fierce competitor, which was on display at practice on Monday. “He’s a guy we need,” added the winger.
Cozens most recently played with Reimer. “He’s a great guy to have around, he’s obviously been around a lot and has a lot of experience,” said the centre. “He’s a great leader, he uses his voice, and he played pretty good for us in Buffalo, so having him in this room is going to be really good for us.”
Both Reimer and Travis Green said that the plan is to take it day-by-day and thus have not set an expectation for when the netminder could appear in goal. When he does, Ottawa will mark his eighth NHL team. Through his career, he said he has always enjoyed playing at the CTC, where he sports a 12-4-1 record with a .935 save percentage in 17 starts.
“I joke about the water, maybe it’s the beds at the Brookstreet [Hotel], I don’t know what it is, but no, obviously it’s where I played my first game so it’s special in that way,” said Reimer. “But there’s something about this rink and the crowd, it just seems like it’s an earnest, excitable fanbase, I think the building gets loud and it’s a fun place to play. I’ve always enjoyed playing here.”
Whatever the case, the team is hoping that form continues whenever Reimer debuts. “It’s always exciting to get a guy that has experience comes in and can help maybe stabilize that area that we need right now,” said Perron.
“We’re excited to have him, I think you can even tell with his energy during practice there, he was upbeat, and he knows what he has to do to make an impact.”
Entering another stretch of four games in six days — after just two days between the last such stretch — and with starter Linus Ullmark on a leave of absence from the team due to personal reasons, the Senators signed Reimer to a one-way contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 season on Monday morning.
The Arborg, Man. native was first signed to a professional tryout (PTO) contract with the Senators’ AHL affiliate in Belleville on Friday and appeared in Sunday’s overtime loss to Rochester.
“It’s been good, it’s been exciting, I mean, the opportunity to play again and play for this team, it’s super exciting,” said a cheerful Reimer after practice on Monday.
Reimer was invited to Toronto’s training camp on a PTO and has been a free agent since. He has been skating with two BCHL teams, the Vernon Vipers and the West Kelowna Warriors, while at home in Kelowna.
“There’s a lot of times when you're excited and you believe that something's going to happen. Then there’s days when you're a little down and you don’t know if maybe you’ve played your last game,” said Reimer about spending the first half of the season not on an NHL roster for the first time since 2009–10.
“A lot of back and forth, obviously I was staying in shape back home, skating and working out, and hoping there was a good fit and a good situation, and when this came along it seemed like the right one and I was happy to jump all over it.”
