Bruins trade former Vezina winner Ullmark to Senators
The Boston Bruins traded goaltender and 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for netminder Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic, and the 25th overall pick in this year's NHL draft, the teams announced Monday.
Ottawa will retain 25% of Korpisalo's $4-million cap hit as part of the deal. He's under contract for four more seasons.
Boston will save around $1.165 million in cap space as a result of the move, according to PuckPedia.
The Bruins are getting their 2024 first-round pick back in the trade. They initially sent the pick to the Red Wings as part of the swap that brought Tyler Bertuzzi to Boston ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. Detroit then packaged the pick to the Senators last July to acquire Alex DeBrincat.
In the 2023-24 campaign, Ullmark posted a 22-10-7 record as well as a .915 save percentage and 2.57 goals against average while sharing the crease with Jeremy Swayman. However, Swayman - a pending restricted free agent in line for a hefty raise - effectively claimed the starting job in the playoffs.
Ullmark is under contract for the 2024-25 season on a $5-million cap hit, but he can become an unrestricted free agent once it expires.
He's eligible to sign an extension on July 1, but the expectation is that he's prepared to play out the year without putting pen to paper, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported during the Game 7 broadcast of the Stanley Cup Final.
The 30-year-old is one year removed from a dominant campaign that saw him go 40-6-1 while helping the Bruins set new NHL records in wins (65) and points (135). That success didn't translate into the postseason, where Boston was ousted in the first round in a major upset by the Florida Panthers.
Korpisalo signed a five-year, $20-million with the Senators as a free agent last summer, but his first season in Ottawa didn't go according to plan. He registered a 21-26-4 record across 55 appearances to go along with an .890 save percentage and 3.27 goals against average.
The 30-year-old Finn also ranked second last among all netminders in goals saved above average (-19.42) and dead last in goals saved above expected (-13.6) at all strengths during the regular season, according to Evolving-Hockey.
Korpisalo showed promise after being acquired by the Los Angeles Kings in 2022-23, posting a .921 save percentage in 11 regular-season appearances before logging an .892 clip across six playoff games.
The Bruins signed 25-year-old goaltender Brandon Bussi to a one-year, two-way deal earlier on Monday. He registered a .913 save percentage and a 23-10-5 record for the AHL's Providence Bruins this season.
Kastelic, meanwhile, registered five goals and five assists in 63 games for the Senators this past campaign. Ottawa selected the 25-year-old in the fifth round of the 2019 draft.