Report: Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark used no-trade clause to block move originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins didn’t trade goaltender Linus Ullmark before Friday’s 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline despite plenty of rumors and speculation throughout the last few weeks.
Goaltending has been the strength of the Bruins all season thanks to the tandem of Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. Boston ranks No. 3 in save percentage and No. 8 in goals allowed. But sometimes you have to subtract from an area of strength to address another area of weakness on your roster.
Ullmark is signed through next season with a $5 million salary cap hit. The Bruins didn’t have many assets to use in deals to upgrade their roster. Boston’s lack of draft capital, salary cap space and top-tier prospects was always going to make it difficult on general manager Don Sweeney to pull off major moves. The best way to create cap space was to trade players off the NHL roster. Clearing Ullmark’s cap hit could have allowed the Bruins to make other moves.
Trading Ullmark wasn’t as simple as finding another team willing to acquire him. The veteran goalie has a no-trade clause in his contract that allows him to veto a deal to 16 of the other 31 teams.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported Friday that Ullmark nixed a trade “in large part based on geography.” Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported Friday that there was a potential Bruins-Kings trade involving Ullmark that didn’t go through. It’s not known if Weekes and Seravalli were talking about the same trade, but it would make sense if it was.
Fascinating day for #NHLBruins, sounds like they had a deal on the table to move G Linus Ullmark to #LAKings that didn’t end up crossing the finish line.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 8, 2024
When asked about trade talks involving goaltenders, Sweeney made it clear that he’s comfortable with where the team currently stands at that position.
“I made no bones that if I had to rob from a real strength of this hockey club, that was something we may have to do if it made our team ultimately better. And we didn’t move in that direction,” Sweeney said Friday at a press conference. “That’s not an indictment on the two great goaltenders we have. It’s actually been a real strength of our hockey club from Day 1, and it’ll continue throughout. We feel very comfortable each and every night.”
Did Ullmark nix a deal using the no-trade clause in his contract? Sweeney wouldn’t answer.
“I mean, at the…