The offseason is the time for teams to reassess their roster and goals accordingly for the following season, often times teams will negotiate and do everything in their power to bolster a position of opportunity and this season we saw an Ottawa team make a highlight trade that many hockey fans and media alike thought was a one sided trade. The Ottawa Senators sent a late 2024 first round draft pick, Mark Kastelic, and Joonas Korpisalo(25% retained) to the Boston Bruins for Linus Ullmark. You can read Liam’s offseason articles on the Bruins and Senators here and here. This is one of the biggest upgrades at a position we have seen in quite some time. 

Ullmark has been nothing but brilliant for the Bruins over the past three seasons. In the  22’-23 season, he had an incredible year where he won both the Vezina and William M. Jennings trophies while posting a mind blowing 48.5 GSAA and finishing first with a 93.8 save percentage and a 1.89 goals against average while also being a first team all-star. Last year, Ullmark posted respectable numbers again, with a 91.5 save percentage and a 2.57 goals against average, while also being top ten in GSAA and finishing 6th in Vezina voting. For Ottawa, last season was incredibly disappointing, as they underachieved by a wide margin. They signed Korpisalo in the offseason hoping they would see the same Korpisalo that posted a 91.4 save percentage and 11.5 GSAA in the 22’-23 regular season for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings. Unfortunately, he struggled and finished 2nd last in the league in GSAA and the backup goaltender Anton Forsberg wasn’t much better, finishing in 9th from the bottom. 

At the end of the day, Ullmark is a significant upgrade in net. If he continues his play from the past several seasons, he will be a catalyst and pillar of light for Ottawa as they aim to end their playoff plight. Having a dependable starting goalie gives a team an immense amount of confidence and I’m looking forward to the impact he will have in Ottawa.