Will the Senators pursue Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark before the NHL Draft? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
NHL teams in need of an upgrade at the goaltender position would be wise to give Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney a call in the coming month.
The Bruins have two of the league’s 15 best goaltenders in Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. However, keeping this tandem could be quite expensive this offseason as Swayman is eligible for a new contract as a restricted free agent.
If the Bruins and Swayman work out a long-term extension with a salary cap hit of $5 million or more, the team would use more than $10 million in salary cap space for goalies for the 2024-25 campaign. Ullmark has one year left on his $5 million cap hit. That would mean big money at the goaltender position, especially for a team like the Bruins who need to address several roster weaknesses this offseason.
Swayman is coming off a stellar run in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the 25-year-old star establishing himself as the franchise’s clear No. 1 netminder.
The ideal outcome for the B’s would be to trade Ullmark before next season. Such a deal could net the Bruins valuable cap space and/or other assets such as draft picks or prospects.
Which teams could pursue a Ullmark trade? Keep an eye on a division rival, the Ottawa Senators.
“After the failure of an attempt to acquire goaltender Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins at the NHL trade deadline in March, (Senators GM Steve) Staios and the club’s hockey operations department are expected to make another pitch before the draft for June 28-29 in Las Vegas,” Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun wrote last week.
“The Senators, Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils were among several teams that attempted to sign the 30-year-old Ullmark before the deadline.”
Ullmark has a 16-team no-trade list in his contract, which will change to a 15-team list in 2024-2025, according to CapFriendly. Therefore, Ullmark has some control over his future if the Bruins try to trade him.
The Senators were expected to make a leap as a franchise this past season and reach the playoffs. But the Senators never came close to a postseason berth, finishing 13 points behind the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The main reason for Ottawa’s lackluster 2023-24 season was poor scoring. The Senators had a save percentage of .884 as a team in the regular season, which ranked 31st out of 32 teams.
It’s difficult to value goalies on the trade market. Very few Vezina-winning netminders are ever dealt. Recent trades involving quality goalies have not produced astonishing returns.
“A league executive said Thursday that he believes the Senators would likely have to offer defenseman Jakob Chychrun along with a first-round pick and a new selection to acquire Ullmark,” Garrioch wrote. “Even then he has the hammer, because he does have the amended no-trade clause.”
A first-round pick, another pick and a legitimate top-four defenseman in Chychrun seems like a huge deal from the Senators’ perspective. Ullmark is a very good goaltender and won the Vezina Trophy last season, but that would be a big deal if Ottawa gave up, especially when the Swedish netminder is 30 years old and could leave as a free agent next summer.
The Senators have two 2024 first-round picks: their own (No. 7 overall) and the Bruins’ (No. 25 overall). Boston’s roster was originally sent to the Detroit Red Wings in March 2023 in the Tyler Bertuzzi deal. The Red Wings moved it to the Senators as part of the Alex DeBrincat trade in July 2023.
If the Bruins could get a first-round pick in exchange for Ullmark, that would be a great return. But the most important thing the Bruins need to acquire in any potential Ullmark trade is salary cap space, as a few extra million dollars would be quite helpful in the team’s quest for additional scoring.
