The Ottawa Senators quest for a new starting goaltender has been well-documented this offseason, and after two of the top net-minders on the market were traded on Wednesday, the team reportedly has a renewed sense of urgency.
With Jacob Markstrom now in New Jersey and Darcy Kuemper in Los Angeles, Senators general manager Steve Staios is “making a hard push” to acquire Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark, according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch, who also noted Ottawa checked in on Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros as well.
“League sources say the Senators have circled back to the Bruins to see if there’s a fit to acquire Ullmark to steady the club’s struggling net, and those talks have intensified,” Garrioch wrote. “… This is the second time the Senators have made a concerted effort to acquire Ullmark. The Senators were unable to get a deal in place to acquire him from the Bruins before the deadline in March.”
The Senators had one of the worst goaltending situations in the NHL in 2023.
Joonas Korpisalo, Anton Forsberg and Mads Sogaard combined to win just 37 games with a collective .888 save percentage. The trio also allowed 22 goals collectively on the first or second shot of the game.
Ottawa ranked fifth in goals allowed per game (3.43), and the 281 goals surrendered was the fifth-most in the league and the sixth-most single-season goals surrendered in franchise history.
Adding Ullmark, who’s just one season removed from winning the Vezina Trophy, given annually to the top goaltender in the NHL, after leading the NHL in wins (40), save percentage (.938) and goals-against average (1.89) during the 2022 season, would be a coup for the Sens.
The 30-year-old goalie had a solid season in 2023 (22-10-7, 2.58 GAA, .915 save percentage) but he lost his starting job to Jeremy Swayman, who started 12 of Boston’s 13 playoff games.
His $5M cap hit in 2024 is a bargain for a player of his caliber.
