There are no Vegas Golden Knights up for individual hardware at this year's NHL Awards.
That's all right, there's plenty of partying to go around wherever they are, even if they're not in Nashville (aside from the front office brass preparing for the draft).
As for the rest of the league descending on the Music City, either well into their summer or still just beginning it, it's safe to say any nominee would trade any of the awards they might receive tonight for a chance to lift the Cup, either again or for the first time.
Among the lot during Sunday's media availability were Linus Ullmark, the odds-on favorite for the Vezina Trophy, and Jim Montgomery, up for the Jack Adams as Coach of the Year.
David Pastrnak (Hart Trophy) will fly in on Monday, while Patrice Bergeron (Selke) is expecting another child with his wife, Stephanie. Don Sweeney, a finalist for General Manager of the Year, will speak with Cam Neely on Tuesday before the first round of the draft on Wednesday.
For Montgomery and Ullmark, the sting of the first-round collapse after the historic regular season still lingers, nearly two months later. The former has been running through the games over and over in his mind.
"You just do it. You do it in your head, and I mean, the games are so vivid in your memory," Montgomery told reporters. "As a staff, you know, in development camp we're going to review that as, 'O.K. in playoffs, where were we shy and what areas were we good?' Really pinpoint, getting away from the regular season and the playoffs, how do we grow from it? That's what I'm looking at."
Visions of Matthew Tkachuk's dominance, along with Sam Bennett, still replay in Montgomery's brain. He believes the Bruins lacked "physical pushback and a team commitment to boxing out" to create more room for the goaltenders. Boston was not close to the same team that tore apart the regular season, in his eyes.
"I also thought we played slow, compared to the regular season. We were very fluid in the regular season. In the playoffs, we played fast in Games 3, 4 and 5. The other games, we didn't play fast," Montgomery said. "The defending part got away from us, especially in big moments. One part of our evaluation is the net-front battle, and I think we lost that.
"Give Tkachuk and Bennett incredible kudos there. They were really good at getting in front of our goalies. There were too many screens and not enough box-outs for our liking. Sometimes you have to tip your hat to great players in the league, and unfortunately, that’s an area I felt we didn’t win. If we win that area, I think we would have moved on.”
For Ullmark, it's become more about turning the page: "I've gotta say, I'm very motivated and very inspired as well to get next season started. That's all I can say. I tried not to dwell on the past. What's happened has happened, but it's given me a lot of time to think about what I can improve in my game as well and a lot of things that happened to learn from. I'm a lot wiser and more, I guess you could say, used to it. When next season comes, and I'm put in the same positions, I'm probably going to be a lot more confident when it comes to certain things."
The Swede is back to work. He noted consistency (taking on a lot of shots and battles), keeping his cool and enjoying the moment rather than getting caught up are among his list of offseason sticking points. The third, he said, was better in 2022-23 than his first season in Boston, even if there are still improvements to be made.
"I had a couple of weeks there to rehabilitate mentally and physically, so we're back in business," Ullmark said.
Neither found themselves watching the Panthers' march to the Stanley Cup Final nor the rest of the playoffs, for that matter.
"I didn't watch playoffs. It was too hard to watch, just being honest. I'd watch glimpses for 10 minutes, and I couldn't watch it as a fan," said Montgomery, who'd begin to analyze games through his coaching perspective. "Then it was like 'Ugh.' Go play cards or go play golf with my sons."
The time change when he got back to Sweden with his young family didn't make it practical for Ullmark to watch, even if he did keep track. He's never really been one to stay plugged in when his team is out of it.
"I think watching it gives it a little bit more of a sour taste because then you can start thinking about like, 'That could have been me. That could have been us,'" he said. "So, stepping away from it, and like I said, I was focusing more on the more important parts of my daily life."
Both are also keenly aware of the Bruins' cap crunch. Saddled with just shy of $5 million in cap space, Sweeney and Neely are staring down a busy, complicated few days throughout the draft and free agency. They've reportedly been pursuing re-signing Tyler Bertuzzi as a top priority, and even Garnet Hathaway, but the July 1 (Saturday) deadline before the two hit the open market looms large. There will almost certainly be a cap-clearing trade.
Even with the question marks, Boston still should have the bones of a playoff team. Montgomery is well aware of the challenge that lay ahead, considering a repeat of 65 wins and rewriting record books may not be in the cards.
“We’re gonna have to win with less,” Montgomery said. “We all know the cap situation, so things are going to change for us. But, you know, Florida two years ago had a much better regular season and they’re in Finals [this year]. I don’t know if they are better or worse, but they got there, right? They’re happier with this season.”
Ullmark, under contract for $5 million for two more seasons with modified trade protection, is well aware of the speculation swirling around him.
“It’s crossed my mind, yeah," he said. "I’m not going to lie, that’s the business part of it. That's the world we live in."
The 29-year-old is coming off the best season of his career, taking the triple crown after leading the league in save percentage (.938), goals-against average (1.89) and wins (40), after previously having a baseline as an above-average starter.
"Our goaltending has been superb, and Ullmark's season was fantastic. I can't remember one game in the regular season where I was like, 'Oh my god, he's not there tonight.' Just amazing consistency," Montgomery said of Ullmark's dominant regular season. "He started in Game 1 [of the regular season] and he made some amazing saves at Washington, and it just never stopped. It was kind of like, 'When is it going to drop?' And it never dropped."
The Bruins would be selling high, and Ullmark may just be their most tradeable asset as a relatively affordable starter. He has a 16-team no-trade list in 2022-23 and a 15-team list in 2024-25, according to CapFriendly.
The Bruins have the present and future of the net in good hands between Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, who is in need of a new deal and has arbitration rights as a restricted free agent. It might not be unreasonable for the 24-year-old to be in the $4-5 million range at the higher end of the neighborhood of his next deal, which would make things even tighter for the Bruins. Swayman was fourth in goals-against average (2.27) and save percentage (.920), sitting tied for the third-most shutouts (four, two ahead of Ullmark).
Ullmark played 49 games in the regular season to Swayman's 37. The latter missed time early on with an injury as well.
“I mean, [the tandem] worked. If you look at it stat-wise and how we played, there’s nothing to really complain about on that end,” Ullmark said. "At the end of the day, the team's success goes forward to your personal success, even if they go hand in hand."
There may be a more even split if both are back next season.
“Well, you’ve got to think about that Jeremy was playing out of his mind as well,” Ullmark said. “Like he was one of the top goalies of the league. So, he was given starts that he earned, obviously. And, you know, I was trying to do the same thing for myself. It’s hard when you’re having two hot goalies, like you want to keep them in and keep them fresh at all times. So, it’s hard to say if he was way worse, yeah, I would’ve assumed that I would play a lot more games, but we were so tight and like neck-and-neck when it comes to our games, I felt it was valid that he got the starts that he got and I got the amount of starts that I got.”
For now, Ullmark can't focus on hypotheticals or speculation surrounding his future in Boston. It's all about going about his business as usual.
“I try not to think about it too much,” Ullmark said. “For me, that’s not important. Whenever that day comes, or if it ever comes, that’s something I’ve got to deal with at that point.”
