During Monday’s Felger and Massarotti program, Mike Felger made his case for Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark be in the conversation for the NHL MVP award.

• TRANSCRIPT:

  Felger: MVP showdown tonight. Pastrnak versus McDavid, right? Linus Ullmark versus Connor McDavid, except Linus Ullmark is out. So that blows my take. So let’s just say it would have been Linus Ullmark, been in that third year MVP showdown. That’s your MVP candidate. Linus Ullmark, your top MVP candidate, League MVP. Hart Trophy folks. Connor McDavid. Auston MATTHEWS. Alexander Ovechkin. Wayne Gretzky. Linus Ullmark. And I never would have thought of it. I’m not talking, Vezina. He’s obviously the odds on Vezina favorite, like right now would be a surprise if he doesn’t get the vezina. Should be a slam dunk. He’s having the kind of season that goalies win MVPs and Ty Anderson give him credit. He’s the one that clued me in to I don’t want to thought of it. He mentioned it last night on TV. I’m like, wait a minute, you talking about put away tie your black and gold thong underwear for a second. That’s what I thought initially. And then I looked at I said, oh, well, wait a minute. Just talking. Last year with the Rangers, Igor Shesterkin was first and goal goals against average, save percentage and finished third in the MVP. Okay. He was like seventh in wins. And his team was again sort of down the standings. It was a good team playoff team, but Igor Shesterkin was first in goals against average first and save percentage did not lead the league in wins and his team was not the best team in the league and he still finished third. Linus Ullmark first and save percentage first and goals against first in wins. And his team is having a historic season not just the best in the league, but maybe the best in the history of the league. And now he’s on the board offensively. He’s going to get MVP votes. He should. The last guy, the last goalie to win the MVP was Carey Price in 2015. As you asked me before Murray. Carey Price won it because he let’s just call it the goaltending Triple Crown. It’s a Triple Crown save percentage goals against wins. Carey Price led the NHL in 2015 in those three categories, and his team had the second best record in the league. So he won the league MVP the Hart Trophy in addition to the Vezina. Why wouldn’t Hallmark or why wouldn’t you get consideration? And the answer is because no one thinks of them that way. Everyone thought of Carey Price this way. You know, he’s franchise goalie from the day he came in the league. Linus Hallmark. No one even really knows who he is. So he sort of burst on the scene this year. But if you look at it historically, he’s the one that your MVP favorite, not Vezina MVP Hart Trophy. Have you seen this poster? I don’t know how you could vote for knock over Connor McDavid. Yeah, I know, But I just see the reason I even think about it is because it.

• 

  Jan 24, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark (35) and teammate goalie Jeremy Swayman (1) celebrate the win over The Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sport

• Felger: It’s six. Only six have ever won the MVP award. Yeah, well, I mean, but this these are the kind of years where it happens. When you say 2015, you mean 2014. Yeah, right. I was just looking to put a leading scorer was that year and it was Jamie Benn with 87 points. So that’s interesting. That’s a good thing to bring up now. So there was a vacuum there offensively, which you’re not getting now. I mean, Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, brilliant, have an incredible year and I still think Connor McDavid is like 30 points ahead of him or something. It’s not even close, but because guys are ridiculous. But tell me where Edmonton is in the standings. I think they might be leading the division. I think they’re up there. I mean, but are they close to the Bruins in terms of the standings? Oh, no, I don’t think so. 72 points. So do they need their third in their division? They’re third in the division. If you look at the league standings, the Bruins are first by a mile. Everton’s 10th. Edmonton’s the 10th team in the league. So I don’t know. I’m telling you, is it you know, it generally goes to the offensive player. But if a goaltender has this kind of year, the goal if just Durkin’s finishing third. Against Matthews and Connor McDavid. Linus Ullmark isn’t finishing any worse than that. And it should be more. He should absolutely be in the conversation. I wouldn’t have thought of it until you brought it up, but he should absolutely be in the conversation. So what can I tell you? Go figure. Ty Anderson got one there. So I’m curious about that. But then, of course, because now we bring it up, jeremy Swaymann is starting in net.

• 

  Feb 25, 2023; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) celebrates his empty net goal during the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

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