After 2 big goalie trades, is Linus Ullmark next?

The dominoes are finally starting to fall on the NHL trade market. After weeks of minimal action, two significant trades were made Wednesday afternoon.

The first: The Calgary Flames sent goalie Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Kevin Bahl and a 2025 first-round pick, with the Flames retaining 31.25% of Markstrom’s contract (two years left at a $6 million average annual value).

The second: The Washington Capitals flipped goalie Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings for center Pierre-Luc Dubois in a straight-up, one-for-one deal.

What do those trades mean for the Bruins? Well, they both involve goalies, and Boston is also reportedly shopping a goalie in Linus Ullmark. So, a lot.

For starters, you can cross the Devils and Kings off the list of potential suitors for Ullmark. Both were among the teams known to be looking for a goalie, and both reportedly had at least some level of interest in Ullmark. It’s possible that one or both were on Ullmark’s 16-team no-trade list, though, which would have forced them – and the Bruins – to look elsewhere anyways.

Just as importantly, the Ottawa Senators, another team very much in the market for a goalie, have reportedly “stepped up their efforts” to acquire Ullmark in the wake of the Markstrom trade.

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen reported Wednesday afternoon that Senators general manager Steve Staios “has been making a hard push to try to acquire Ullmark” and that Ottawa “may now be the last serious team in the mix.”

Garrioch goes on to reiterate his previous report that the Senators may have to offer defenseman Jakob Chychrun, a first-round pick and another draft pick in order to land Ullmark, with the Bruins potentially taking on goalie Anton Forsberg as well.

There’s a lot to unpack there. For starters, it remains unclear – at least publicly – if the Senators are on Ullmark’s no-trade list. If they are, that could obviously kill any potential deal unless he changes his mind. That said, if the Senators have been interested in Ullmark going all the way back to the trade deadline, as Garrioch reports, you would think they’d know by now if he’s willing to go to Ottawa.

Second, Garrioch may be right that the Senators are “the last serious team in the mix” for Ullmark, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have the upper hand in negotiations now. Wednesday’s trades cut both ways – there are now two fewer suitors for Ullmark, but there are also now two fewer goalies available. Unless the Nashville Predators change their mind and make Juuse Saros available, Ullmark appears to be far and away the best goalie left on the market.

Third, it would still be surprising if the Bruins get the package Garrioch suggests. The Flames did get a first-round pick and an NHL defenseman for Markstrom, so it’s definitely possible the Bruins get something similar for Ullmark. Ullmark is four years younger than Markstrom and has better numbers the last couple years, but he also has just one year left on his contract, while Markstrom has two.

That said, Kevin Bahl is not as good as Jakob Chychrun, so Chychrun and a first would be a better return than Bahl and a first. Bahl is two years younger than the 26-year-old Chychrun and under team control for longer (Chychrun has one year left on his contract at a $4.6 million cap hit), but Bahl is a no-offense third-pairing player while Chychrun contributes at both ends of the ice and plays top-four minutes.

The Senators would love to unload Joonas Korpisalo’s contract (four years left at $4 million AAV) in any trade, but Garrioch reports the Bruins have “no interest” in taking on Korpisalo – and rightly so. Forsberg (one year left at $2.75 million) could be a compromise there. Taking on his contract could help the Bruins extract more in the rest of the package since Don Sweeney would prefer to not take on any extra money.

Other teams who could potentially be in the market for a goalie include the Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche. It’s unclear if the Bruins have had serious Ullmark-related discussions with any of them. The Hurricanes remain the most intriguing of that group because Boston is reportedly among the many teams interested in forward Martin Necas, so it remains possible that Ullmark and Necas could be the foundation of some sort of blockbuster there.