One of the top reasons the Boston Bruins have been able to endure the loss of top two centres Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to retirement is the play of their two goalies.
Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark mostly split duty in net and have combined for the league’s second-best team save percentage at .915 in all situations, behind just the Winnipeg Jets (and MVP candidate Connor Hellebuyck).
But as we near the NHL trade deadline, the Bruins face a potential dilemma if they seek to buy big again. Without any picks in the first three rounds of the 2024 draft, if Boston would rather keep around young players who have logged NHL games (Mason Lohrei) than flip them for help, they have to ask themselves a tough question:
Is it a strength to have two very capable netminders who you need to keep going into the playoffs, or is it a luxury to cash in on now to bring help to other areas of the roster?
“Teams out there do believe the Bruins are trying to upgrade their roster, and all you have to do is look at what they are capable of and say, ‘It’s not coming out of the draft, do they really want to deal their top prospects, some of whom have already played in the NHL?’ I don’t think so,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Friday’s 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. “So, if they want to make changes, it probably has to come off their roster, and that’s why people I think are looking at Ullmark.”
Ullmark, 30, has been excellent across three seasons in Boston and his $5-million cap hit for both this season and next would be great potential value for an acquiring team. He does have some level of control, with a 16-team no-trade list this season.
The other factor at play here is that, while both goalies have excellent numbers and shared the William Jennings Trophy last season, neither has been a heavy workload starter at this level. The two goalies pretty much split starts down the middle — Ullmark’s 49 games last season was his career high, while Swayman’s 41 games played from two years ago was his career high (which he’s on pace to surpass in 2023-24).
It’s a wild thought, but if Ullmark can bring Boston back the big centre and/or defenceman they need, it’s something to consider. How the Bruins feel about 25-year-old netminder Brandon Bussi, an undrafted goalie in the AHL, could play a factor as well. If Boston’s braintrust feels he’s ready for backup duty — and that Swayman can handle more games — they could be more inclined to let Ullmark go in the right deal.
“I don’t think it’s impossible,” Friedman said of an Ullmark swap. “But the whole thing is, if the Bruins are trying to win the Stanley Cup, then why would you subtract from one of your greatest strengths? And the only thing I can think of there is if they get something they think is so good, they just have to do it.”
Will Toronto’s six-game winning streak solidify them as a trade deadline buyer?
Rather than stumble without Morgan Rielly, the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied around the suspension to their best blue-liner, completing a perfect 5-0 run against largely inferior competition when he was out of the lineup. And in his return in a road game against Vegas Thursday night, the Leafs looked nearly unstoppable in how they ran over the defending champions 7-3.
Where once the Maple Leafs were in a wild-card position and dangerously close to the playoff cut-off line, now they are more securely in than any other time this season — 12 points ahead of ninth-place Washington. The debate has turned back from, ‘Should the Leafs buy anything at all?’ to ‘What should they spend their first-round pick on?’
“I look at them and I still see (Auston) Matthews, for all the MVP debate, he’s been on fire while they were at their most vulnerable without Rielly. I still see holes in that lineup, but, boy, results matter,” Friedman said on the Friday podcast.
“The thing this does is it ratchets up the talk that you can’t waste a prime year. You have to go for it. I really do believe a month or two ago, they were wavering on ‘What do we go for here? Is this really a go for it year for us?’
“They’re going to have trouble convincing people it isn’t.”
So, we’d expect Toronto’s 2024 first-round pick to be in play this deadline after already dealing away its 2025 first. And, without any second-rounders at all over the next three years, it’s a vitally important asset not to waste.
The Maple Leafs have been linked to all three of Calgary’s big players — Jacob Markstrom, Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev — but have to be wary of trading that pick for a pure rental. If, for example, Hanifin or Tanev were the top targets, they’d ideally come with a contract extension in the drawer.
And, if not Calgary, the Maple Leafs could turn their gaze elsewhere for a player who fits their needs for this season, and can contribute beyond.
“They really want a right-hand D in the worst way,” Friedman noted. “They really would prefer their first-rounder not go for a rental.”
Does Elias Pettersson have an offer on the table from Vancouver?
We knew coming into this season that pending RFA Elias Pettersson was not in a hurry to re-up with the Vancouver Canucks. With one year left of control on the player, the Canucks have said they don’t feel the pressure to get a deal done urgently either, knowing the ultimate deadline of unrestricted free agency is still another year away.
But, as the Canucks prove to be a Stanley Cup contender, there’s been some wonder if Pettersson might be more inclined now to sign on. Earlier this week, Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported a source claimed Vancouver had tabled an eight-year offer worth $12 million per season to Pettersson, who has neither accepted nor declined the offer. The player still is biding his time.
With the Canucks in their longest losing streak of the season at four games, this delay may not be what fans of the team will want to hear right now. But, speaking on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast Friday morning, Friedman said that whenever Pettersson is ready to make a decision, one thing is clear: the Canucks will be happy to pay him his worth.
“I don’t have any proof an offer was made,” Friedman said. “I’m not saying Dave is wrong. But what I do believe is the Canucks have made it very clear to Pettersson they are going to pay him a lot of money. I’ve heard in the 11s, I’ve heard in the 12s. They are willing to do it. They are simply waiting for Pettersson’s go-ahead, which has not come yet.”
