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Ullmark Trade As Good As It Could Get For The Bruins

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AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Linus Ullmark is no longer a member of the Boston Bruins. 



Following a trade on Monday night, Ullmark is heading to the Ottawa Senators. In exchange, the Bruins are receiving goalie Joonas Korpisalo, center Mark Kastelic and the 25th overall pick in this week’s NHL Entry Draft.

After months filled with both anticipation and speculation, the trade’s end result is ultimately underwhelming for the Bruins. Yet, at the same time, it’s about as good of one as they were going to get at this juncture. 

The positive for the Bruins in the trade is bringing in the 25th overall pick. It’s the same selection Boston gave to the Detroit Red Wings for Tyler Bertuzzi at the 2023 trade deadline, who then sent it to Ottawa for Alex DeBrincat last summer.

Owning their original selection once again, the Bruins re-enter the opening round of the draft after not having a single pick in the first three rounds prior to the trade. Whether they use the pick themselves or make another trade with it remains to be seen. Regardless, whatever becomes of the pick will largely affect how this trade is looked back on down the line. As for the current moment, it seems the Bruins settled for what they could get.

While they let go of one of the best goalies in the league over the last few seasons in Ullmark, the Bruins get back Korpisalo, who was statistically one of the worst in 2023-24. In 55 appearances for Ottawa, Korpisalo compiled a 21-26-4 record in 55 appearances with a 3.27 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage. 

Those results had the Senators eager to get out from under the five-year, $20 million contract they signed Korpisalo to last summer. So much so that they were willing to give up a first-round pick and retain 25% of Korpisalo’s salary for the next four years. That will shave $1 million off his annual cap hit throughout his time in Boston, but that doesn’t mitigate the fact the Bruins actually lost cap space following this trade and now have a projected $25.02 million in available funds, according to Puckpedia.

Perhaps Korpisalo will bounce back with the Bruins while playing understudy to Jeremy Swayman. Even still, paying $3 million annually for the next four years is a high price for a backup goalie, especially for one that has been historically hit or miss in his career.

While it’s largely known what Korpisalo brings to the table, the book is still out on Kastelic. With just 144 career games under his belt, the 25-year-old has some time left to develop as he approaches his prime. Standing at 6-foot-3 and 210 lbs, he possesses the size that can make him a useful piece within the bottom six of Boston’s lineup. The only problem is that Kastdoesn’tesn’t fill any of the needs the Bruins currently have on their roster.

With the likes of Trent Frederic and John Beecher already occupying the middle on the third and fourth lines, there isn’t an obvious spot for Kastelic to play as of right now. Meanwhile, gaping holes remain on both the top line and on the left side of the defense corps. Ottawa defenseman Jakob Chyrchrun seemed like an ideal solution to address the latter, but he was out of the Bruins’ price range at this point.

Boston likely would’ve received a much better return for Ullmark had they traded him sooner. The Bruins had a host of teams interested in acquiring Ullmark when it was first rumored he was on the trading block almost a year ago, but executing a deal proved to be much more difficult than expected.  

Several of the teams that were originially interested in Ullmark are believed to have been on the no-trade list afforded to him by his contract. Even those weren’tren’t seemed hesitant to give Boston high-priced assets without a guarantee of Ullmark signing an extension with them once his contract expires at the end of next season. 

With Ottawa as one of their last remaining options, the Bruins were essentially forced to trade Ullmark with one hand tied behind their backs and got the short end of the deal.  

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