How experts graded Bruins’ trade of Linus Ullmark (2024)

The Bruins made their first big move of what’s expected to be a busy offseason when they traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. In exchange for the Vezina-winning goalie, Boston received forward Mark Kastelic, netminder Joonas Korpisalo and a 2024 first-round draft pick (25th overall).

It’s a franchise-altering trade that seemingly points to Swayman being the Bruins’ franchise goaltender.

Here’s how local and national experts graded the move and what they’re saying about it.

ESPN

Any potential trade involving Ullmark forced Bruins general manager Don Sweeney to address two details. The first would be finding the strongest possible value for the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner. The second would be finding the sort of deal that allowed the Bruins to shed Ullmark’s $5 million salary cap hit ahead of next season.

Bruins grade: B

The Athletic

So Boston did lose some leverage. And Ullmark’s control in the situation added another hurdle — he had a 15-team no-trade list which limited the Bruins’ options. If the idea was to include a contract extension in the trade, their options would have dwindled even more.

But at the end of the day, the 25th pick in the NHL Draft on Friday, Mark Kastelic and Joonas Korpisalo combined don’t equal nearly the value Ullmark brings to a lineup. And none of these pieces address Boston’s most pressing needs upfront.

Maybe the 25th pick could be flipped. Maybe Korpisalo could be serviceable behind Swayman — the Bruins’ defense is a lot closer to theKings, which he thrived behind, than Ottawa’s. Or maybe he could be flipped once more, with another chunk of his salary retained. Maybe Boston just buys him out.

Butmaybeshouldn’t be good enough for a team’s top trade asset and one of the best goalies on the market, even with all leverage considerations in mind and no contract extension.

Bruins grade: C

theScore

Despite the meager return, the trade contains silver linings for the Bruins, notably that they’ll get to draft in Round 1 for just the second time in five years. Renting Tyler Bertuzzi for one playoff round in 2023 cost Boston this selection before the Detroit Red Wings flipped it to Ottawa for Alex DeBrincat.

Moving Ullmark creates current and future cap space for Boston and signals belief, faint as it may be, that Korpisalo can be better. The strength of the Bruins’ defensive structure helped Jeremy Swayman, the new undisputed starter, record a .950 save percentage in the series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Head coach Jim Montgomery can shelter Korpisalo, a luxury Ottawa didn’t enjoy, and deploy him strategically against worse teams.

The Athletic - Linus Ullmark trade comes at a cost

The Bruins are now responsible for the four remaining seasons of Joonas Korpisalo’s five-year, $20 million contract, albeit at a 25 percent discount. Even at $3 million annually, it is a steep sum for a 30-year-old coming off an .890 save percentage with the Senators in 2023-24.

Korpisalo saved minus-16.1 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. Of the 98 goalies with at least one NHL appearance last season, only Arvid Soderblom (minus-18.2) was worse. Ullmark was at 14.8, seventh best in the NHL.

Either way, the fact the Bruins had to take on Korpisalo’s contract is further confirmation of Ullmark’s market value: not even close to his projected performance in Ottawa. Even if the Senators are not as strong as the Bruins, Ullmark will be motivated to be an ace for his new club in a contract year.

The Bruins could have done better had the Senators negotiated a pre-trade extension with Ullmark. Whether the Bruins allowed Ullmark and agent Joakim Persson to talk contract particulars with the Senators is unknown. The return would have been higher, perhaps in the Shane Pinto tier, had an agreement in principle been in place.

The Boston Herald

But the fly in the ointment is Korpisalo’s deal. He’s got four years left on a deal that carries a cap hit of $4 million per season. The Senators will be retaining 25% percent of Korpisalo’s deal but it still chews into the savings of moving Ullmark.

This will be Korpisalo’s fourth NHL team. He got a five-year, $20 million contract from Ottawa off the strength of his best NHL season in 2022-23, which he split between Columbus (.913 save percentage and 3.17 GAA in 28 games) and Los Angeles (2.13, .921 in 11 games). But after he went 21-26-4 with a .890 save percentage and 3.27 GAA in Ottawa, the Sens clearly had some buyer’s remorse. We’ll see if he can be more effective in a backup role to Jeremy Swayman, who is expected to sign a large extension that should chew into a large amount of the B’s cap space ($21,599 million, according to capfriendly.com).

Boston.com

While Ullmark might have been viewed as a luxury on the Bruins in 2024-25 when factoring in Swayman’s next deal, the return for Boston on Monday does raise a few eyebrows — namely with Korpisalo.

But Korpisalo — even with a reduced cap hit — is a puzzling add for Boston. One of the primary perks for Boston moving Ullmark was going to be the additional cap savings, allowing Boston to further address other deficiencies on the roster.

But instead of freeing up $5 million by moving Ullmark’s contract off the books, it’s now only $2 million with Korpisalo in place.