One potential Linus Ullmark landing spot is officially off the board
The fate of Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark, for the most part, remains a complete unknown.
Ullmark has made it clear that he has no interest in leaving Boston, and Don Sweeney and the Bruins haven’t shut the door on running it back with the Ullmark and current restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman tandem should the money work for at least one more year. As unlikely as that may seem given the expected raise for Swayman as well as the Bruins’ other needs that need to be addressed.
But Wednesday came with one team officially ruled out of the equation should an Ullmark trade have to come from the Bruins with this summer, as New Jersey found their next No. 1 goalie by way of a trade with Calgary for Jacob Markstrom. To bring Markstrom to New Jersey, the Devils parted with defenseman Kevin Bahl, as well as a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2025, while the Flames retained 31 percent of Markstrom’s salary to bring his cap hit down to $4.125 million per season.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils entered the offseason openly acknowledging that they needed a goalie, and there was even talk that they had let other teams know that the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft was in play in potential trade talks. The price paid for the 34-year-old Markstrom, who has another two years left on his contract and is coming off a 2023-24 campaign that featured 23 wins and a .905 save percentage in 48 games, ultimately did not get that high for Fitzgerald’s club.
The obvious ‘bummer’ from the B’s point of view with this trade comes with the fact that if location has played a factor in his willingness or unwilling to use his trade protection, it’s hard to find a team in need of a goalie that’s closer to Boston (and in turn closer to Sweden) than New Jersey. The Devils’ aforementioned willingness to pay a first-round pick to address their goalie also played to the Black and Gold’s desires and needs with a potential Ullmark trade, with Sweeney openly referencing the 2013 trade that saw then-Canucks goalie Cory Schneider traded for a top-10 pick when discussing goalie returns, giving you a slight idea as to what he and the pick-deficient Bruins would target in a potential trade.
Now, the good news within that Markstrom-to-NJ trade comes with the Devils sending a first-round pick and more out the door to acquire Markstrom. It’s perhaps not an apples-to-apples kind of comparison given the fact that Markstrom has two years left on his current contract while Ullmark has just one, it is worth mentioning that Ullmark is both younger and has better numbers of late.
In essence, the Bruins still should be able to get something of legitimate value in a potential Ullmark deal.
The Sens are still interested in adding a goalie (and willing to pay a premium), and same for the Kings, who tried to make a play for Ullmark at the 2024 trade deadline before Ullmark reportedly nixed a trade. But Ullmark’s trade protection will ultimately remain the greatest obstacle, as Ullmark still possesses an insanely player-friendly trade list, and with that list set to go from 16 teams to 15 teams in 2024-25.
Ullmark, who won 22 games and posted a .915 save percentage in 40 games last season, is entering the final year of a contract that comes with a $5 million cap hit.