With the acquisition of Jacob Markstrom by the New Jersey Devils last week, Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins is now the best goaltender available in the NHL trade market this summer.
With one year remaining on his deal, the 30-year-old Vezina Trophy winner is subject to a $5 million cap hit and a 16-team no-trade list. The Ottawa Senators have reportedly rekindled their interest in Ullmark, according to a Postmedia report.
Before the trade deadline, they made an effort to acquire him and offered Joonas Korpisalo in exchange. According to reports, the Bruins turned Korpisalo down because they couldn’t afford to pay the $16 million that was left on his contract over the course of the following four seasons.
According to the report, Shane Pinto might be of interest to the Bruins. The Senators, though, are unwilling to let go of the 23-year-old center. Meanwhile, Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet questioned whether Jakob Chychrun might be involved in Ullmark’s comeback.
Elliotte Friedman, Scanlan’s colleague, thinks Ullmark has the Senators on his no-trade list. He believes the Bruins might be hesitant to trade him to a rival team in his division.
According to sources cited by Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, if the Senators and Bruins reach an agreement, the netminder might consent to move to Ottawa. Julian Gaudio of The Hockey News, meanwhile, referenced a later Postmedia article asserting that the Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights are also keeping an eye on Ullmark.
One point of contention is Ullmark’s contract.
Friedman believes that if teams had to pay the high asking price of the Bruins, they would rather sign the goalie to a contract extension. He drew attention to Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman’s statement that he was only planning to bring in an older goalie as a stopgap.
That opinion might be held by other interested clubs.
It’s unclear why Vegas is allegedly interested in Ullmark.
With a year left on their contracts, Adin Hill and Logan Thompson make up a solid tandem already. With limited cap space, the Golden Knights are attempting to re-sign Jonathan Marchessault, a winger who is a UFA.
Though Hill has a $4.9 million cap hit, the Golden Knights wouldn’t be able to afford Ullmark if Hill were traded to free up salary for Marchessault’s new deal.
This only makes sense if they’re attempting to trade Hill for Ullmark rather than resigning Marchessault. The Bruins won’t be interested in that because the cap hits for both goalies are almost the same.
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