OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators and elite goaltending have hardly ever been synonymous.
Linus Ullmark may just be ready to change that.
It’s rare to acquire a recent Vezina Trophy winner in his prime, then extend him within months. Yet that’s exactly how the Ottawa Senators unearthed their potential saviour between the pipes.
Just minutes before Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, the Senators acquired Ullmark from the Boston Bruins for Joonas Korpisalo, Mark Kastelic and a first-round pick.
“To be completely honest,” Ullmark said, “I think the same thing goes through your mind whenever you get traded, is that you feel disappointed in a way that you feel that you weren’t good enough, and that you felt that they found a better solution, or they have a better option at hand.”
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Battle of Ontario Game 1 on Sportsnet
For the first time in 21 years, the Battle of Ontario returns to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Watch Sunday’s Game 1 between the Maple Leafs and Senators live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.
After the initial grief, however, Ullmark’s mood turned to hope.
“When you get traded, you think about just what your old team thought of you, not that there actually was another team that wanted you,” he said.
“There are always two sides of the coin. You realize that, ‘Oh, this might not be as bad as I first thought it would be.’ And then maybe one or two more days goes by, and then you realize, ‘Oh, this is really exciting.’ And then after a while again, you realize, ‘Oh, this is great.’”
Still, the elephant in the Swedish netminder’s head was whether Ottawa could become his long-term home as a 31-year-old with one year left on his contract. Ullmark didn’t know what to expect from a Canadian market or how his wife, Moa, and two kids, Harry and Lily, would adjust to their new surroundings.
“I didn’t just want to trade and sign and not know what I’m actually signing up for,” Ullmark said.
“You never know if it’s going to be greener on the other side or is it going to be good or it’s going to be bad. Am I making the right decision? We didn’t want to rush anything.”
On Ullmark’s first day in Ottawa, he was recognized at his hotel while grabbing a cup of coffee and it took him by surprise. After spending time in Buffalo and Boston where the Bills, Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics are kings, Ullmark appreciated the focus that Ottawa natives have squarely on the Senators.
“The whole city of Ottawa is behind the Senators and not 25 per cent of them, depending on which season it is. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it’s a different thing.”
As Ullmark got acclimatized to the city, fan base and organization, he realized one thing: he wanted to know his future with the Senators before the season started.
“I didn’t want to have the conversation about an extension during the season,” Ullmark said.
“Because when the season is underway, there’s just no time, and you want to limit as many distractions as possible when you play. And that one is a pretty big and so it would have taken up a lot of energy, a lot of downtime, and I didn’t want to put through my kids or my wife or me through it, because I also know that if you take care of the things off the ice, your on-ice performance is going to be better.”
Throughout the summer and into training camp, Senators general manager Steve Staios gave Ullmark the time and space to decide whether he wanted to make Ottawa home.
Eventually, what clinched Ullmark on Ottawa — on top of the $33 million he will receive over the next four years — was that the city reminded him of his hometown of Gothenburg, his wife and kids were thriving, and he really believed in the core of Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson.
“There were just way too many positives compared to eventual negatives that I would be stupid not to take a chance,” Ullmark said.
It takes two to sign that type of contract extension. The Senators also took a chance on Ullmark, who had never started more than 48 games in a season and will be 35 years old at the end of the deal. Ullmark has also struggled in the playoffs, with a 3-6 record and .887 save percentage.
It was a bet.
“I believe Linus is entering his prime,” Staois said after inking the extension.
Midway through the interview with Ullmark, he interrupted to yell out to passing goaltending partner Anton Forsberg.
“Do you need my car keys?”
Well, Ullmark’s been given the keys to Ottawa’s crease for the next four-plus seasons.
In his previous stops, Ullmark operated in a full tandem, most notably with hug buddy Jeremy Swayman.
“I’ve stayed away from trying to look at what the league standings have been and how it’s going for Boston,” Ullmark said.
At the present moment, Ottawa and Boston are heading into opposite directions — in part thanks to Ullmark’s play. He’s posted better numbers than Swayman in every statistical category this season.
It was important for Ullmark to finally become a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL.
“It’s a dream come true,” Ullmark said. “I’ve always wanted to be able to look back at my career and say, ‘Yeah, I was a starting goaltender in the National Hockey League.’ That’s a pretty cool thing to say, but I also want to be able to say that I did that and I performed.”
Despite injuries to begin the season and some up-and-down play, Ullmark has answered the questions surrounding his ability to be a clear-cut starting netminder. That’s exactly what Ottawa has been yearning for since Craig Anderson backed out of his prime.
As the saying goes: “show me a good goaltender, and I will show you a good hockey team.”
And great goaltending has now propelled the Sens to the playoffs. Between the pipes, Ullmark is calm, technically sound and has a penchant for brilliance every once in a while.
Since the last Senators’ playoff journey in 2017, Ottawa has never once finished in the top half of the league in team save percentage. Last season, it placed 32nd.
In essence, trading and extending Ullmark was the literal and metaphorical version of “we need to buy a save.”
Now, Ottawa finished seventh in team save percentage, while Ullmark placed 11th in goals saved above expected per game and 12th with a .910 save percentage (minimum of 30 games played). Last season, Ottawa allowed 34 more goals than expected. This season, it has saved 23 goals above expected this season, according to Moneypuck.com. That’s a net gain of 57 goals by one metric. In reality, Ottawa allowed 281 goals last season compared to 234 this season.
“(Ullmark’s) been a big part of it,” said coach Travis Green. “Obviously when we traded for Linus, we knew we were getting a goalie that was capable of winning a lot of games. He’s given us a good year, especially when he’s found his game and got dialled in.”
In the first Battle of Ontario in 21 years, some have given Toronto the edge in net because of Ullmark’s career playoff track record.
Ullmark acknowledges his mistakes both early in this season and in past playoffs.
“I’m my own harshest critic, and so I’m never going to be really satisfied with what I’m doing,” he said.
Ullmark and goalie coach Justin Peters recap every game with animated discussions in the locker room, their attempt to perfect the imperfectible.
If the Senators want to beat the Leafs, they’ll need the 2023 Vezina Trophy-calibre version of Ullmark, the one who has the sixth-best save percentage since Dec. 1.
That version won’t just impact the trajectory of the Senators in these playoffs, but also their future successes with Tkachuk, Stutzle and Sanderson, who are about to enter their primes. Ullmark’s play during his contract may well determine if Ottawa can become a Cup contender.
“I think the ceiling (of the Senators) is something that’s going to be smashed every single year,” Ullmark said. “Especially if we manage to get into the playoffs consistently.”
Now, Ullmark has the ability to do what no Senator goaltender has ever done before.
Beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs.
