Ryan: Linus Ullmark sure doesn’t seem like a stopgap measure in net for Boston

Don Sweeney was frank when assessing the state of Boston’s goaltending corps going into the 2021-22 season, and the hard truths that come with the situation that his team found itself in. 

Despite the urgency that comes with trying to squeeze one or two more Cup runs with this current veteran core in place, the fact of the matter is that any potential “last hurrah” this season with franchise cornerstones like Bergeron and Marchand in place wasn’t going to have Boston’s winningest goalie in franchise history along for the ride — at least for the first few months. 

With Tuukka Rask out until at least January or February 2022 while recovering from a torn hip labrum, Boston found itself felled by a major vacancy in net — with Jaroslav Halak’s departure (eventually off to Vancouver on a one-year deal) leaving Boston barren between the pipes as far as established NHL experience is concerned.

And while some fans might be intrigued by the potential (and cap savings) that comes with handing the keys to both Jeremy Swayman and Dan Vladar in net (a duo with a combined 15 starts in the NHL ranks), there was far too much risk involved with putting so much faith (and pressure) on a pair of youngsters in this pivotal season. 

A veteran option was needed, both to serve as insurance for Boston’s younger goalies and a potential stopgap if Boston was simply treading water for Rask’s eventual return later this winter.

But who was it going to be? A journeyman veteran like Craig Anderson? Some other well-traveled, cheap option that would have no qualms with a reduced role in a couple of months?

Well, not exactly. 

Rather than target a short-term solution, it sure looks like the Bruins set their sights on a potential No. 1 starter in Linus Ullmark — spending a hefty chunk of change to bring in a guy with a higher ceiling than many available names on the free-agent market.

Rather than tempt fate and take their chances with Swayman/Vladar or a discount-bin pickup, the Bruins opted to snag Ullmark from the Sabres — locking in the 27-year-old goalie with a four-year contract with a $5 million annual cap hit. 

That sure sounds like starter money to me. 

Ullmark’s signing wasn’t the lone move made in net, either — as Boston dealt Vladar to the Calgary Flames for a 2022 third-round pick and signed Troy Grosenick to a one-year, two-way contract with an NHL cap hit of $750,000. 

Moving Vladar for draft capital might irk some, but Boston did found itself between a rock and a hard place when it came to sorting out its goalie corps due to Vladar losing his exemption status when it came to waivers. 

If Boston wanted to roll with Ullmark/Swayman to open the season, Boston was going to have to expose Vladar to waivers before sending him down to Providence — allowing a team to snatch the young backstop for nothing. 

Boston could have opted to keep Swayman down in Providence for most of the 2021-22 season and set up a Ullmark/Vladar rotation to open the year, but methinks that the Bruins are of the opinion that Swayman is ready to cut his teeth up in the NHL ranks. 

And even though Ullmark may not be as established of a name as other UFA goalies, he does draw some parallels to Jaroslav Halak in 2018 in that his value could be maximized in a new setting and a stinger defensive structure in Boston — especially when compared to the previous employer over in Buffalo.

Much as how Halak’s poor numbers with the Islanders (the pre-Trotz era) didn’t exactly tell the whole story about the veteran’s effectiveness in net before signing with Boston, Ullmark could offer a similar return as the last line of defense on a Boston team that still tied for fourth in the NHL last year in goals against per game (2.39). 

And all things considered, Ullmark’s numbers were actually very impressive last season despite the dumpster fire that was usually in front of him out in Western New York — with the Swede posting a 9-6-3 record over 20 games with the Sabres and holding .917 save percentage along the way.

Much like in baseball, a win-loss record doesn’t always tell the full story of a player’s individual performance, but if you’re keeping track — the rest of Buffalo’s goalies went a combined 6-28-4 during another miserable year at KeyBank Center.

Add in the fact that Ullmark ranked fifth among all NHL starting goalies last season in 5v5 save percentage last season (.937), ahead of names like Andrei Vasilevskiy (.933), Marc-Andre Fleury (.929) and Carey Price (.925) — and the veteran goalie does seem like a potential breakout candidate in a featured role next season, complemented by yet another high-ceiling netminder in Swayman.

“He’s big, he stops a lot of pucks way above expected, especially in five-on-five situations,” Sweeney said of Ullmark. "Both our goalie coaches in Bob [Essensa] and Mike [Dunham] broke down where there might be some deficiencies in Linus’s game. ... Then the PK side of things is an area we’re going to shore up with him and how we kill, and address some of those things. 

"But overall, he’s in the prime of his career, he’s had a lot of experience. He’s had some injuries we’re going to help him address to be in the best shape going forward and play in a real structured environment which I think he was excited about. He knows what our team is like, playing against it, and he’s excited to be on the inside of it all, playing for us, and we’re fortunate.”

As for expectations once we get into January/February, the Bruins now have the luxury of charting out whatever course they want to take. If Rask is healthy and wants to play, Boston can add him for the stretch run and roll with Rask/Ullmark into the postseason. Not bad. 

Or if both Ullmark/Swayman are playing lights out, Boston could officially move forward and close the book on the Rask era — with Ullmark serving as the new No. 1 for now and Swayman setting the foundation for his eventual reign as top option in net for the B’s in the coming years. 

AND if Rask ultimately decides to hang up his skates, Boston is already covered in net with their young rookie and the established starter they believe can more than hold his own in 2021 and beyond. 

Whichever way you want to look at it, Boston at least has OPTIONS as far as their goaltending situation goes — which, given what the state of this group was just a few hours ago — should assuage some fears about Boston’s Achilles heel being located between the pipes. 

“I see it like having extremely good goaltending at that point in time,” Sweeney said of a scenario in which all three of Ullmark, Rask and Swayman are on the same roster. “Again, Jeremy is in a position where we have flexibility. He could be the best goaltender, and then you feel like not a lot of teams juggle with three, but you have opportunity if you needed to send Jeremy down and get to the playoffs and play the best goaltender. 

 “Ultimately, you’d have, in Linus and Tuukka in that case, as you spelled it, that’s hypothetical. But I think we’re prepared in any way to go. What if you have an injury to somebody else? I’m knocking on wood here, obviously, you’re just trying to be prepared. When you’re trying to be a competitive team, you have to have depth. We felt that the last two playoffs, and we came up short. Now we’re trying to make sure that we’ve got the most competitive team we can, and identify if we have some needs going forward that we may have to have some changes as well.”