One of the biggest offseason storylines for the Boston Bruins this summer is whether or not they trade goaltender Linus Ullmark or run back the tandem they have with Jeremy Swayman. The latter needs a new contract and he's going to get a big raise from what he made in 2023-24.
Ullmark has one year remaining on his current four-year deal with a $5 million AAV he signed after coming over from the Buffalo Sabres in the summer of 2021. Bruins GM Don Sweeney has a lot of cap space this offseason to fill some holes in the lineup he's going to have, but moving Ullmark and his $5 million could open up even more cap space.
Several teams have been reportedly interested in him, but on Wednesday, you can cross one team off that list and shrink the number of teams Sweeney can look at making a deal with.
New Jersey Devils acquire Jacob Markstrom
One team that Sweeney has had talks with in regard to Ullmark is the New Jersey Devils. It's been widely known that GM Tom Fitzgerald was open to moving his first-round pick at next week's Entry Draft in Las Vegas to acquire a netminder. He didn't need to after all.
Wednesday, Fitzgerald acquired the goalie he was looking for when the Calgary Flames sent Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey for defenseman Kevin Bahl and the Devils 2025 first-round draft pick. That closes the door on Ullmark going to the Devils, but does it open the door for him to have Calgary be a potential landing spot now?
The trade deets. pic.twitter.com/2Fu0snZB5P
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) June 19, 2024
What does this leave the Bruins for options should they decide to move Ullmark? The Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, and Ottawa Senators are teams that will continue to be linked to him, while according to The Fourth Period, Ullmark's former team. the Sabres, have been linked to him. There is still over a week to the NHL Draft and Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to be played on Friday night in Edmonton. There is still time to work out a deal and things should get very interesting in the next two-plus weeks.