UncleRico
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Linus Ullmark is fully aware his future with the Bruins could be in doubt
Following Jeremy Swayman's emergence during this latest playoff run, Linus Ullmark could be a possible trade chip for the Bruins.www.boston.com
KPD, FWIW (not much),
When it comes to the Bruins’ goalie situation, it looks like Linus Ullmark is a goner
By Kevin Paul Dupont Globe Staff,Updated May 19, 2024, 5:54 p.m.
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Linus Ullmark started only one playoff game for the Bruins after making 39 starts during the regular season and posting a 22-10-7 record.MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF
Linus Ullmark made a name for himself here the last three years after being filched away from Buffalo to be a workhorse in the Bruins net.
He won 88 games, ranking him the NHL’s eighth best in that category across the last three regular seasons. He won a Vezina Trophy a year ago, after his astounding 40-6-1 mark in 2022-23. He even became a member of the exclusive group of goalies to score a goal with his high-toss, long-range wrister into an empty net one night in Vancouver.
Now it looks like Ullmark is a goner, his value to the Bruins today not so much about how much rubber he can stop, but how much dough the 30-year-old can save the club if it trades him, likely in the days leading up to the June 28-29 NHL Draft in Las Vegas.
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Such is life in the NHL salary cap world, where roster churn is a fait accompli and the CBA’s defined math alone can dictate who stays, who goes, who gets tonight’s start in net.
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Owed another $5 million as the final installment on the four-year/$20 million deal he signed to come aboard as a free agent in July 2021, Ullmark’s money now is expected to be folded into the haul Jeremy Swayman collects in the coming weeks as a restricted free agent.
RELATED: With playoff run over, Jake DeBrusk deals with possibility of leaving Bruins behind in free agency
Swayman, the in-residence, homegrown phenom, is expected to ink a long-term pact that could as much as double the $3.475 million he earned this season, which culminated with him making 11 straight starts in the playoffs.
“It’s hard to not hear it,” Ullmark said late Sunday morning, acknowledging the increasing trade chatter around him as he packed up for the summer — and perhaps for the final time — at the club’s Brighton practice facility. “You can’t isolate yourself, because then you’d live in a shed in the woods and [only] show up to practice here sometimes.”
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Addressing the gaggle of reporters around his stall in the Guest Street dressing room, Ullmark added, “I mean, I have you guys … you’re always going to ask questions, you want to know what’s happening … and [look for] answers you might want. But I’m not going to give any good answers other than that.”
It’s not really a new drill for Ullmark. He openly noted the realities of the business, and the chance he could be dealt, a year ago in Nashville when accepting the Vezina prior to the draft. Talk back then was that general manager Don Sweeney, faced with myriad factors that pushed payroll hard up against the then $83.5 million salary cap, wouldn’t have enough loose change to keep both Ullmark and Swayman on the job.
Swayman ultimately landed his one-year deal via salary arbitration, and the two goalies remained aboard, largely due to Sweeney using paper clips, bobby pins, and S&H Green Stamps to hire on low-budget veterans James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shatterkirk, Milan Lucic, and Danton Heinen to fill various roster holes.
A year later, most, if not all, of those Dollar Store plug-ins aren’t expected back, largely because fresh faces Matthew Poitras, Mason Lohrei, and Andrew Peeke (a March trade acquisition) all are expected to land full-time work in Black and Gold come October.
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Linus Ullmark (right) and Jeremy Swayman developed a supportive bond as the Bruins' goaltending tandem.JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF
With Ullmark dished to offset Swayman’s big bump in pay, that should leave Sweeney with some $20 million-plus in cash for more free agent shopping as of July 1.
Priority 1: a bona fide No. 1 center; Priority 2: a top four defenseman who can average 20:00, add vital support in back, and allow Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm to increase their impact; Priority 3: a top six scoring winger who can fill the void expected if/when the unsigned Jake DeBrusk taps the UFA market elsewhere for, say, $6 million a year or more.
Rumors at the March 8 trade deadline had Ullmark going to the Kings for Pierre-Luc Dubois, the ever-underperforming 6-foot-4-inch center. The same rumors had Ullmark using his 16-team no-trade clause to nix the deal. Dubois stayed in LA. Ullmark stayed with the Bruins and ultimately was relegated to backup duty in the postseason.
“He was putting on a heck of a performance,” a gracious, secure Ullmark said of Swayman while reflecting on being the backup. “That was basically the only reason I wasn’t playing any more games, because he was probably the best goaltender in these Stanley Cup playoffs.”
With Ullmark moved out, Swayman would be positioned as the club’s clear-cut No. 1. Swayman’s workload likely would be increased in the regular season and he would partner with Brandon Bussi, who just wrapped up his second solid season with AHL Providence.
“Was it hard? Yeah, it was hard,” Ullmark said of hearing the trade rumors. “Because you’re very comfortable where you are, you don’t want to move when you feel like you’re playing well, you have the team and you have the trust in the teammates. I’m not the only one [the subject] of trade talks, obviously.”
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“And for me, it’s above my pay grade, as well, really. I don’t have the luxury to choose. If I could, I’m probably going to say the same thing as everybody else: I want to stay. But we live in the world of professional sports and you’ve got to deal with that.”
RELATED: Jeremy Swayman was clearly the story of the Bruins’ playoff run: ‘Night in and night out gave us an opportunity to win’
The dealing is in Sweeney’s hands. Technically, Ullmark’s limited no-trade list winnows the field, but that can shift with the speed of a shot deflected low in the slot.
Example: If Ullmark has the Devils on his nix list, his posture could change if Sweeney allowed New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald to entice Ullmark to Newark with a four-year contract extension worth, say, $25 million. Ullmark still could nix the trade, albeit with the risk that he’s dealt to another team for the upcoming season and enters the UFA market July 1, 2025.
Would the offers for Ullmark a year from now be better? Maybe. Maybe not. By definition, pay grades are all about the money, and dollars often define the discussion.
ED NOTE: If Sweeney actually attempted to trade Ullmark for a useless piece of sh*t who will never, ever understand hard work, accountability, teamwork, etc., then he clearly hasn't grown as much as I thought.
If true, I continue to question the competence and common sense of the SGITR. (Figure out the acronym, Smartest Guy In The Room.)
Self admittedly not a KDP guy but he definitely is a mouthpiece for the organization. There’s legs there if he’s saying it.
