It sounds inconceivable, and yet, increasingly, so too does a 2024-25 season where Linus Ullmark remains the No. 2 goaltender in Boston.
The Bruins have an embarrassment of riches in goal. During the 2023-24 regular season, both Jeremy Swayman and Ullmark ranked in the league's top 10 in goals against (2.53 and 2.58, respectively) and save percentage (.916 and .915, respectively).
Swayman shifted into another gear in the postseason, effectively ending the Bruins' tandem system they had employed throughout the regular season, but that says more about Swayman's dominance in net than it does about Ullmark's performance.
The fact is, Ullmark is a No. 1 goalie who, so long as he remains in Boston, would be relegated to a No. 2 role. The Bruins have been discussing an extension with Swayman's camp for months. Last year, he was awarded a one-year, $3.475 million agreement through an arbitration hearing, and by all accounts, both sides hope to avoid going through that again this year.
Ullmark is under contract for one more season on a four-year, $20 million deal he signed in July 2021.
In 2023-24, Swayman, 25, and Ullmark, 30, accounted for a combined cap hit of $8.475 million. But if Swayman receives the long-term deal he's after (and that he's certainly worth), allocating $11 or $12 million to the goaltender position will limit the Bruins' ability to bring in a top skater who could help the team over the playoff hump.
Per CapFriendly, Ullmark has 16 teams on his no-trade list, which has hamstrung general manager Don Sweeney's attempts to find a favorable return for him. Presumably Ullmark will command more than Jacob Markstrom, whom the Calgary Flames traded to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Kevin Bahl and a top-10-protected first-round pick in 2025. The Flames also retained 31.25% of Markstrom's salary.
Ullmark is four years younger than Markstrom and won the Vezina Trophy in 2023.
But with the Devils having addressed the position, that leaves one fewer landing place for Ullmark should the Bruins be looking to make a trade. So who are the suitors still in contention?
According to The Fourth Period, Ullmark has also been linked to the Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres. Ullmark reportedly vetoed a deal that would have sent him to Los Angeles at this year's trade deadline, with speculation being that he'd like to remain on the East Coast.
While the Senators have been mentioned in connection with Ullmark, the Sabres are a surprising new team entering the trade chatter. And yet, Buffalo makes perfect sense. It's on the East Coast and, of course, it's the team with which Ullmark spent the first six seasons of his career.
The Sabres are developing Devon Levi, 22, but could use a veteran presence in net to form a tandem with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, 25. In 54 games last season, Luukkonen broke out with a 2.57 goals against average and a save percentage of .910.
While Ullmark has proven he could be "the guy" and may balk at becoming part of another 50/50 rotation, the interest on the Sabres' end in welcoming back their former star to bolster their rotation and avoid upping Levi's workload too early in his career is clear.
Buffalo has missed the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons, tied with the NFL's New York Jets for the longest postseason drought in professional sports.
Per The Hockey News' Michael DeRosa, the Sabres "are open to moving this year's 11th overall pick for the right price and have several top prospects who could intrigue the Bruins."
What the Markstrom trade showed the Bruins front office, however, is that they might have to retain some of Ullmark's $5 million cap hit to make a deal work. And with Ullmark set to become an unrestricted free agent in summer 2025, teams may be gun-shy to invest unless they know Ullmark will be open to an extension.
