At first glance, the Ottawa Senators got their hands on a top goalie on Monday for not too much money.
Linus Ullmark, 30, won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s outstanding goaltender just a year ago, after all.
To get him, the new Senators administration, led by president and general manager Steve Staios, paid a late first-round pick, 25th overall, and was able to get rid of a disappointing goaltender under contract at the same time. for another four years, Joonas Korpisalo. Ottawa will assume 25% of his salary, or 1 million per year for the next four seasons.
Ullmark will nevertheless be entitled to complete autonomy in a year. Putting him under a long-term contract as soon as the deal was made official would obviously have been the perfect scenario, but the 6-foot-4 Swedish goaltender nevertheless agreed to waive his no-trade clause to join the Senators.
Sun Media informant Bruce Garrioch said Tuesday morning on Twitter/X that contract negotiations would begin shortly, at least an approach from management with the goalkeeper’s inner circle.
Worst case scenario, the Senators will have paid the price for a rental player at the trade deadline and we’ll hope to see Ullmark help this team reach the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
The chances of getting your hands on a star at #25 are slim. There are a lot more Dominik Bokk, Riley Tufte, Ryan Poehling, Jordan Schmaltz and Michael McCarron than there are David Pastrnak.
But the leading teams generally sacrifice these late first-round picks, not the clubs aspiring to a playoff spot through the back door. Hence the importance for Ottawa to put Ullmark under contract for several additional seasons. The Senators won’t be a Cup contender next year and this pick will be considered wasted if Ullmark tests the market after a year. Although we will have succeeded in removing Korpisalo from the portrait.
Despite his Vezina Trophy, Ullmark cannot be considered among the short list of elite goaltenders in the NHL. Ullmark shined in three seasons in Boston, an extraordinary defensive club, in an almost equal rotation with Jeremy Swayman, before losing his number one job to the latter in the playoffs.
Ullmark was less extraordinary in Buffalo, between 2015 and 2021, in a club significantly less powerful than Boston, but good enough to sign a four-year contract for 20 million with the Bruins in 2021.
Will he be able to play 55-65 games next season like elite goalies typically do? Ullmark has never reached the 50-game mark in a season. He played 49 in 2022-2023, but otherwise never more than 41.
The Senators, however, have a much better team today and this is likely the first of many trades.
Staios managed to find a number one goalie without giving up his seventh overall pick. Thank God. Now we have to solidify the defense. Thomas Chabot has great offensive qualities, but he needs help. Jake Sanderson is already number one, but he’s only 21 years old.
Jakob Chychrun, 26, an overvalued and defensively weak defender who cost a 12th overall pick in 2023 and second-round picks in 2024 and 2026, is already on the trade market, a year removed from full free agency.
The Senators GM could use his first pick to get a defenseman, which wouldn’t be the idea of the century unless he gets his hands on an amazing defenseman 25 or younger, but those aren’t usually available .
There is also the free agent market. Tyler Myers, Chris Tanev, Brett Pesce, Nikita Zadorov, Derek Forbort and Joel Edmundson, among others, will be available if Ottawa ever wants to strengthen its defensive training environment with athletes of a more defensive nature. But Ullmark will need reinforcements, that’s for sure.
The Flyers announced Tuesday morning that Matvei Michkov has been released by SKA St. Petersburg to join the Philadelphia organization. Michkov could even cross the Atlantic within ten days and participate in the team’s development camp.
Initially, Michkov was under contract with SKA until 2026. They agreed to break the agreement for a significant sum of money, as one suspects, after having loaned him to a bottom club. ranking, Sochi, during the last two winters.
For many observers, teams, like the Canadian for example, will bite their fingers for having ignored him in the 2023 draft since he will join the NHL two years earlier than expected.
However, the duration of his contract was not the main obstacle in the eyes of these clubs, but rather his behavior and his blatant lack of rigor in defense. The Arizona Coyotes also drafted ahead of Michkov in sixth place a Russian from the KHL, defenseman Dmitry Simashev, under contract until 2025.
Let’s hope for the Flyers that Michkov changes his approach on the ice. In the four matches observed at the end of the season with Sochi, we could see a total disinterest on his part over 100 feet, and for only the desire to score goals while waiting for the long pass while floating at the red line.
If coach John Tortorella can turn him into a complete hockey player, the Flyers will have got their hands on a superstar, because Michkov’s talent is undeniable.