Two of Linus Ullmark‘s biggest suitors, the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings, officially left the sweepstakes on Wednesday. The Devils landed Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames, while the Kings got their starter in Darcy Kuemper from the Washington Capitals.
With this, Ullmark is now one of the last big-fish goalies on the trade market, and hockey fans will be watching him incredibly closely. With two big-name goalies off the board, one club is reportedly increasing their push to land the Bruins star netminder.
According to Bruce Garrioch, league sources informed him that Senators GM Steve Staios “has been making a hard push” and are increasing their efforts to land Ullmark.
Garrioch wrote this on the matter: “League sources say the Senators have circled back to the Bruins to see if there’s a fit to acquire Ullmark to steady the club’s struggling net, and those talks have intensified.”
The Senators have been viewed as a clear potential landing spot for Ullmark all offseason, and it is understandable, given how poor their goaltending was in 2023-24. Their goalies put together a .888 SV% and a 3.30 GAA as a team for the season, which is far worse than the league average.
According to Garrioch, the Senators also tried to acquire Ullmark at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. He noted that the Senators offered Joonas Korpisalo to the Bruins at the deadline, but the Original Six club is not interested because of his high cap hit and term. He also noted, however, that the Bruins could be open to taking on Anton Forsberg’s $2.5 million cap hit to help things out financially. He would be a backup option for the Bruins if acquired and is entering the final year of his deal.
Yet, Garrioch added that more work must be done before a potential trade between the Bruins and Senators occurs. It is also important to note that Ullmark has a 15-team no-trade list, so if the Bruins and Senators agree on a move, he could block it if Ottawa is on his list.
Nevertheless, this is something to pay close attention to. The Senators absolutely need a goalie, and it makes sense that they are working hard to acquire Ullmark with former target Markstrom off the board. They also have a star in Jakob Chychrun who the Bruins have been connected to, so maybe there’s a fit here. We must wait and see if these talks lead to a blockbuster trade between the two rivals from here.
