James Reimer

James Reimer was born on March 15, 1988, in Morweena, Manitoba — a small community that sits far from the hockey markets where he would eventually make his name. He started playing minor hockey there at age 12, was selected in the fifth round of the 2003 WHL bantam draft by the Red Deer Rebels, and was taken by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fourth round, 99th overall, of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Before reaching the NHL, Reimer worked his way through the professional ranks with the South Carolina Stingrays and Reading Royals in the ECHL, as well as the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. In 2009, the Stingrays won the Kelly Cup, and Reimer was named the most valuable player of the ECHL playoffs that spring.

He made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs during the 2010–11 season, going on to replace Jean-Sébastien Giguère as Toronto's primary netminder. That first full campaign produced 37 games played, a 20-10 record, a 2.60 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage, and 3 shutouts. The following season he posted 14 wins, 14 losses, a 3.10 GAA, a .900 save percentage, and 3 shutouts across 34 appearances. In the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, Reimer had one of his strongest statistical years as a Maple Leaf: 33 games, a 19-8 record, a 2.46 GAA, a .924 save percentage, and 4 shutouts. He also represented Canada internationally for the first time, at the 2011 World Championship.

The Maple Leafs tenure continued through 2013–14 (36 games, 12 wins, 3.29 GAA, .911 save percentage) and 2014–15 (35 games, 9 wins, 3.16 GAA, .907 save percentage) before Reimer was traded to the San Jose Sharks at the 2016 deadline. In eight games with San Jose that spring, he went 6-2-0 with a 1.62 GAA, a .938 save percentage, and 3 shutouts.

Reimer signed with the Florida Panthers ahead of the 2016–17 season, beginning a three-year run in South Florida. In his first year with the Panthers he appeared in 43 games, going 18-16 with a 2.53 GAA, a .920 save percentage, and 3 shutouts. The 2017–18 season brought career bests in several categories during his Florida tenure: 44 games played, 22 wins, a 2.99 GAA, a .913 save percentage, and 4 shutouts. He finished his time with Florida in 2018–19 with 36 appearances, 13 wins, and a 3.09 GAA.

He joined the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons. Over those two shortened campaigns, Reimer posted a combined 29 wins in 47 games, with a 2.66 GAA in each season, a .914 save percentage in 2019–20 (with 3 shutouts), and a .906 save percentage in 2020–21.

Reimer then returned to San Jose, where he spent two seasons as a Shark again. In 2021–22 he appeared in 48 games, going 19-17 with a 2.90 GAA and a .911 save percentage. The 2022–23 season brought 43 games and 3 shutouts. He moved to the Detroit Red Wings for 2023–24 (25 games, 11 wins, 2 shutouts) and then the Buffalo Sabres for 2024–25 (22 games, 10 wins, 1 shutout, 2.90 GAA, .901 save percentage). By the 2025–26 season, Reimer was with the Ottawa Senators, where through 14 games he holds a 7-4 record, a 2.42 GAA, and a .886 save percentage.

Through the 2025–26 season, Reimer's NHL career totals stand at 539 games played, 232 wins, 191 losses, 67 overtime losses, a 2.88 GAA, a .909 save percentage, and 32 shutouts — across eight franchises spanning parts of fifteen seasons.

InGoal Magazine has covered James Reimer in three podcast appearances and twelve Pro Reads.

Much of that InGoal coverage grew out of in-person sessions at the NET360 Goalie Camp in Kelowna, where Reimer sat down for video review work across multiple summers. The Pro Reads series gave him the space to walk through real game sequences in granular detail, and Reimer proved consistently candid about moments where he believed his own execution fell short. In one session breaking down a 5-on-3 penalty kill against the Edmonton Oilers ^[1], Reimer explained his approach to depth and tracking under those conditions: "You change your depth. You're a little deeper and since you are deeper, you have to really be on angle and tracking pucks to the nth degree. Early eyes, early angle because obviously you are a little deeper." He added simply: "For me its eyes. If you are looking at it, then at least you have a chance."

His Pro Reads sessions have covered a wide range of game situations: rush reads, in-zone power plays, 5-on-3 penalty kills, faceoff positioning, shootout preparation, and screen management. In a breakdown of a sequence against the New York Islanders power play ^[2], Reimer spoke about the value of fighting to maintain a sight line: "You have to be uncomfortable if you don't see the puck for half a second but just fighting to see the puck. If you can see it, you can do something. If you don't see it, guys have open nets." A session examining his pre-faceoff routine against the Vegas Golden Knights ^[3] showed how he prepares his defensemen for what he sees developing: "I do it too much and my wingers get annoyed with me, but if it is I'll always yell at this guy to get a jump if they lose a draw because it's going across."

Throughout the series, Reimer repeatedly opened with assessments of his own positioning or reads that he felt could have been handled differently — a quality InGoal has returned to across more than a dozen sessions. A full archive of those breakdowns, spanning his time with the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and San Jose Sharks, is available to InGoal members ^{[4] [2] [3] [1] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}.

Reimer has also appeared on the InGoal Radio podcast three times — in 2019 ^[13], 2022 ^[14], and 2024 ^[15] — with each conversation offering a window into his thinking at different stages of his career.