Mads Søgaard (born 13 December 2000) is a Danish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

for the

Belleville Senators The Belleville Senators are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators. Based in Bellevill ...

in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) as a prospect to the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was selected by the Senators in the second round, 37th overall, in the

2019 NHL Entry Draft The 2019 NHL Entry Draft was the 57th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 21–22, 2019 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The first three selections were Jack Hughes going to the New Jersey Devils, Kaapo Kakko being select ...

. After two seasons in the

, Søgaard made his NHL debut with the Senators in 2022. Internationally he has played for the Danish national team at the junior level in several tournaments.

Playing career

Søgaard spent his early career in his native Denmark. In 2017 he moved to North America, and spent one season with the

Austin Bruins The Austin Bruins are a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Central Division. The Bruins play their home games in the Riverside Arena in Austin, Minnesota. History The Bruins were an expansion team that first pl ...

of the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

, playing 22 games for them. He was selected 32nd overall in the 2018

CHL Import Draft The CHL Import Draft is an annual event in which every team in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) may select the rights to eligible import players. An import is classified as a player who does not have residency status in either Canada or the U ...

by the

Medicine Hat Tigers The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) who play in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Divis ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

, and joined the team that year. After his first season with Medicine Hat, he was the second-ranked North American-based goalie, and was drafted by the

in the second round, 37th overall, in the

. He briefly played for the

Esbjerg Energy The Esbjerg Energy is a Denmark, Danish professional ice hockey team based in Esbjerg, Denmark, playing in the Metal Ligaen, the top tier of Danish ice hockey. The club was founded in 2005 and play their home games in the Granly Hockey Arena which ...

in the Danish

Metal Ligaen Metal Ligaen is the premier league in Danish ice hockey. The league consists of 9 professional teams. The name of the league has changed many times, but is being sponsored by Dansk Metal and therefore got the name Metalligaen. History It is a ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In his first professional season, he posted a 10–5–1 record with a 2.58 goals-against average (GAA) and a .922 save percentage in 16 games for the Energy. He then joined the Senators'

(AHL) affiliate, the

in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic-shortened season. Søgaard performed well in his first few games, recording a 7-0-0 record in all of his AHL appearances. On 13 April 2021, the Senators signed Søgaard to a three-year, entry-level contract. He began the 2021–22 season with the Belleville Senators and posted a 16–13–1 record with a 2.87 GAA and a .906 save percentage in 31 games prior to being recalled by the Ottawa Senators. He made his NHL debut for Ottawa on 1 April 2022, in a 5–2 victory over the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. He is the second Danish goalie in NHL history, after

Frederik Andersen Frederik "Freddie" Andersen (born 2 October 1989) is a Danish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs. Andersen was a ...

. On 10 April 2023, Søgaard and Andersen made NHL history, playing against each other in a game in Ottawa. It was the first time that two Danish goalies in the NHL faced each other.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Søgaard, Mads 2000 births Living people Austin Bruins players Belleville Senators players Danish ice hockey goaltenders Danish expatriate ice hockey people Esbjerg Energy players Medicine Hat Tigers players Ottawa Senators draft picks Ottawa Senators players Sportspeople from Aalborg