When the Hockey East playoffs began earlier this month, nobody, outside of North Andover, Mass, had the Merrimack College hockey team making an improbable run through the postseason as the No. 8 seed. That's what they did.
They took down Providence College in the quarterfinals, then bounced UMass in the semifinals at the TD Garden. One night later, they upset UConn in the Hockey East Championship Game to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Their stay was a short one as they were eliminated, 3-0, by the University of North Dakota on Thursday night in the Sioux Falls Regional in South Dakota.
Two days after having his college career come to an end, goalie Max Lundgren signed a one-year entry-level contract for the 2026-27 season with an NHL cap hit of $952,500 with the Boston Bruins. The 23-year-old just finished his sophomore season for Merrimack. That signing is an odd one and potentially points to a move coming this summer from general manager Don Sweeney.
Bruins sign Merrimack goalie to ELC
The Bruins signing of Lundgren is an odd one. This means, right now, going into next season, Boston has Jeremy Swayman, Joonas Korpisalo, Michael DiPietro, Lundgren, and potentially Phillip Svedeback, who finished up his college career at Providence College.
That is a lot of goalies with not a lot of playing time to go around. Does this mean there are plans for a trade to come this summer? Korpisalo is someone who, if Sweeney could get a team to bite on, he could move. Shipping him out would not only give DiPietro the backup goalie slot behind Swayman but also open up some cap space that Sweeney could surely use.
There just has to be a move coming. There is no way that Boston has enough room for all of those goalies going forward. Whether it's Boston, Providence, or the Maine Mariners, there is a need to move someone, especially if Svedeback signs.