By: Liz Rizzo| Follow me on Twitter @pastagrl88
Tonight’s NHL Awards in Nashville will be a bit awkward as the Boston Bruins will most likely run away with many awards, yet were unable to capture the biggest prize of them all: the Stanley Cup. Another continued issue nagging the teams’ front office is the discussion of netminder Linus Ullmark’s future with the team.
The tandem of Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman was amongst the best last season during the team’s historical run, however as many know nothing is ever certain in sports (most certainly in hockey). As the heavy favorite to win his first Vezina Award, Ullmark is aware that tonight may be his last time as a Boston Bruin.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
After a disappointing first-round exit to the Florida Panthers in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the front office is facing uncertainty behind the scenes as the team has a little over $4.9 million in cap space and five unrestricted free agents. The team is also facing the possibility of not having veterans David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron suit up next season.
Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway, Tomas Nosek and Connor Clifton are all unrestricted, while Trent Frederic and Jeremy Swayman are pending restricted free agents. Ullmark has a $5 million cap hit and therefore his name has been leading the list of potential trades to free up space.
Both Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno (who can still become an unrestricted agent on July 1st), were sent to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. Hall was traded to Chicago on Monday and had two seasons remaining on a four-year contract with the B’s.
During Sundays’ media availability ahead of the Awards, Ullmark spoke about the possibility of him playing elsewhere next season:
“It’s crossed my mind, yeah. I’m not going to lie. That’s the business part of it. That’s the world we live in…I try not to think about it too much. 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.”
Due to having a full no-movement clause that switches to a 16-team no-trade list on July 1, Ullmark would essentially have sort of control over where he goes if Boston decides to trade him. In a ideal situation, both Ullmark and Swayman would continue wearing the spoked-B, however keeping both would be a challenge.
Ullmark also addressed the desire to continue playing alongside Swayman:
“When you have two goalies that are so close when it comes to stats, there’s [probably] going to be some changes. I think for both of us, we want to be together, and we want to stay in Boston because that’s where we thrived, and you’ve seen the success that we’ve had. We just have to see. There’s a personal side to it, and there’s a business side to it. You’ve got to honor it, and that’s just what being a hockey player is.”
If both superstars return to Boston, head coach Jim Montgomery will most likely continue with splitting the season between the two netminders. Ullmark posted 40 wins with a .938 save percentage and a 1.89 goals against average while becoming the first Bruins goaltender in franchise history to score an empty-net goal.
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