NHL.com will identify key EDGE stats for major offseason moves. Today, we look at goalie Linus Ullmark after he was traded to the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
The Ottawa Senators have addressed their biggest positional need by acquiring goalie Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins. Ullmark, who won the Vezina Trophy voted the NHL’s top goalie in 2023, may take a step back individually from this move but should give a promising young team a chance to finally reach its potential next season.
Trading away Ullmark, who is entering his contract year (potential 2025 unrestricted free agent), gives Jeremy Swayman a chance to build on his full-fledged breakout performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by being the clear No. 1 option moving forward. But the Bruins broke up their elite goalie tandem, which led the NHL in team save percentage in 2022-23 (.929) and finished third in the category (.912) this past regular season.
This trade could be a big win for the Senators, who have upgraded by landing Ullmark after having the NHL’s worst team save percentage this past regular season (.884) with mostly Joonas Korpisalo (moves to Bruins as part of this deal) and Anton Forsberg. Ottawa missed the postseason for the seventh straight season, the third-longest active playoff drought behind the Buffalo Sabres (13) and Detroit Red Wings (eight), two other up-and-coming teams from the Atlantic Division.
Per NHL EDGE stats, Ullmark was among the save percentage leaders from the long-range (.987; tied for third) and mid-range (.909; tied for eighth) areas this past regular season and tied for fifth in the category overall (.915; minimum 30 games). Ullmark led the League by a wide margin in mid-range SV% (.950; next-highest rate was Connor Hellebuyck of Winnipeg Jets at .927) in 2022-23.
How Ullmark fares in high-danger save percentage will be most crucial toward his success with the Senators next season; Ullmark was much better in high-danger areas (.859 save percentage; third in NHL) two seasons ago than this past season (.822), when he was better than the League average (.788) in the category but ranked in the 75th percentile.
But while Ullmark has stood out for a non-contending team before during his tenure with the Sabres (.912 save percentage in 117 games over six seasons from 2015-16 to 2020-21), he faces the adjustment of leaving the defensive-oriented Bruins, who have the most wins (112) and points (244) over the past two regular seasons combined.
Ottawa, despite allowing the 13th-fewest shots on goal per game (29.7) this past season, was tied for the fifth-most goals allowed per game (3.43) in the NHL. The Senators offense, led by elite forwards Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle, has high upside in the years ahead but has started slow and finished strong in recent seasons. They are capable of greater consistency and more success in the standings considering they ranked 10th in the NHL in shots on goal per game (31.7) this past season and second in the League in mid-range SOG (758).
Swayman, meanwhile, could carry over his elite EDGE stats to a heavier start volume and has a ceiling of being the most valuable goalie in the NHL next season or later in his career. During the 2024 postseason, Ullmark only played in two of Boston’s 13 games, taking a back seat to Swayman, who led the playoffs in overall save percentage (.933) and mid-range save percentage (.963) while also ranking second among goalies who played multiple rounds in high-danger save percentage (.840) behind Sergei Bobrovsky (.843) of the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
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Full EDGE stats profile: Linus Ullmark
