Ottawa Senators Top 25 Under 25 2034, #24: Kevin Reidler

#24: Kevin Reidler

Last Year: N/R, Reader Rank: N/R

I had the privilege just a few weeks ago to talk about Kevin Reidler in a column about miscellaneous Ottawa Senators prospects who I thought deserved a little extra recognition for their most recent seasons in the Sens' systems. I guess my colleagues paid just enough attention because Reidler managed to sneak into our rankings this year despite not playing in a marquee league since Ottawa drafted him in the summer of 2022 out of obscurity. I stand by pretty much everything I said in July:

"I [ . . .] think Reidler deserves some praise for a very impressive first season in North America after some mixed results playing his junior hockey in Sweden. the former fifth-rounder (151st overall 2022) had a breakout season with the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints where he came painfully close to winning the Clark Cup in his rookie campaign. In the regular season, Reidler had a decent save percentage of 90.2 and an impressive 27 wins good for second-team all-star considerations. In the playoffs, though, he found another gear and finished the postseason with a 93.4 save percentage and seven wins against the best teams in the league (not to mention three shutouts). In pretty much every statistical category, regular season and postseason, Reidler finished second to the Kings' top prospect Hampton Slukynsky whose Fargo team defeated Dubuque in the Clark Cup finals. Reidler will turn 20 in the fall and report to Omaha to commence his NCAA career. For now Reidler sits comfortably behind Mads Søgaard (who won our top goaltender title) and Leevi Meriläinen waiting in the wings. The Sens organizational depth chart could look completely different in the crease by the time Reidler signs his ELC (assuming he does) so I'll just enjoy this trivia now for what it's worth."

To add to the basic statistical overview, and out of fear of repeating myself, today I'll focus on observations from said postseason run that helped to establish Reidler's stock and augment his position in the Sens' prospect pool (and it's surprisingly crowded crease).

Depending on your source, scouts have Reidler listed at 6'5" or 6'6" so while Ottawa does have taller goaltending prospects, I would still classify Reidler as perfectly tall for a goalie. Playing junior hockey in Sweden and more recently in the USHL, Reidler managed to leverage his height advantage with smaller players in front of him and to my recollection maybe one or two point shots got past Reidler in the postseason. For the most part, he can handle low-danger chances routinely and I look forward to seeing if he can maintain that playing against more mature opponents in college.

As with most lanky goalies, Reilder's movement does look a bit awkward at times and I imagine the scouting report against him goes something along the lines of, "Put the puck in his skates." Like any goalie, short or tall, Reidler gets best results coming out to challenge and cutting down the angle. Unsurprisingly he got better results as the playoffs proceeded and he gained more confidence challenging shooters at the top of the crease and not collapsing to the goal-line.

When talking about Reidler's size, I would add that I'd like to see him develop more of an edge keeping opponents out of the crease (I love this element of Mads Søgaard's game for instance as he does not tolerate funny business in his office). As he develops and he plays at higher levels, Reidler will need to further leverage his frame pushing out screens as he naturally struggles most with those low shots up close. In terms of other positive developments, Reidler does move well laterally for his size and he recovers well even with he misreads the initial play. Dubuque's offence plays a very aggressive transition game and miscues in the neutral zone led to a lot of odd-man rushes in the playoffs that I thought Reidler handled well beyond his experience. It also doesn't hurt that Reidler knows how to use his frame to seal off the posts on those secondary shot attempts (he'll give up some pretty juicy rebounds). Like all goalies, Reidler should probably never play the puck below the goal-line.

Like any player just making it into our Top 25, Reidler is still raw. It's easy to see the skills, the tools and the height that make him an exciting prospect if he puts it all together.