NHL Notebook: *If* the Bruins were to listen on Linus Ullmark, which teams might be calling?

The Bruins have a cap crunch, and it's possible Linus Ullmark is their most-tradeable asset, regardless of Boston actually intends to move him. 

The B's are still in a position to be a playoff team next season, and a huge part of that still-sunny outlook is the goaltending tandem with Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. They shouldn't necessarily be actively looking to mess with the good thing they have going. Most NHL teams would kill to have the goaltending situation that the Bruins do.

But any general manager would tell you that they're not doing their job if they don't at least listen on every trade offer that comes across their desk. With Swayman due a new contract, and the Bruins in need of cap space, it's not totally impossible to at least consider moving Ullmark, especially if an inquiring team comes in hot with a big offer. Boston may or may not be able to sneak back into the first round of the draft, but it would be a viable avenue to create cap space and recoup needed assets. 

Ullmark is entering the second-to-last year of his deal, making $5 million annually. He has a 16-team no-trade list for 2023-24 and a 15-team list in the final year of the deal. I wrote a little more about why moving Ullmark does and doesn't make sense a few weeks back.

Whether or not the Bruins decide to act on a move, teams will be inquiring. Who might be calling for his services?

New Jersey Devils

The Devils were perhaps a goaltender away from being serious contenders in the playoffs.

Mackenzie Blackwood's future in New Jersey seems up in the air, and Akira Schmid as good as he was in a small regular season sample and in the playoffs, is still relatively unproven. It's unclear how far away prospect Nico Daws is from contributing at the NHL level. 

Vitek Vanecek has struggled with inconsistency in his career, and he's coming off a poor showing in the playoffs. He seems better suited to be a 1B. Maybe, if the Devils were to eat a little bit of his $3.4 million salary, he could go the other way in a goalie swap to make a tandem with Swayman. 

New Jersey has tons of cap room this offseason (approximately $34 million), in addition to decent assets, whether picks or prospects. Maybe there's a match to be made. Ullmark would certainly provide more security, rather than hoping Schmid or Daws bloom quickly or Vanecek becomes accustomed to being a starter.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Speaking of being a goaltender away... The Penguins were a flawed team this year, full stop, and a major flaw was goaltending.

Triston Jarry, while having a decent track record as a starter in a regular season, has been a no-show in the playoffs, whether by his play or injuries. He is an injury-prone UFA-to-be. Casey DeSmith is a backup, which became apparent when he carried the load for an injured Jarry this season. It doesn't seem they have a prospect that is particularly close. 

With new GM Kyle Dubas possibly looking to make a splash to maximize the remaining years of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, he may have dance partners in the Bruins and Ullmark. The hangup would be, well, mostly on Pittsburgh's end of the deal. The Pens have a good amount of cap space (roughly $20 million), but with a weak prospect system, they'd likely want to hang onto their next three firsts. They do have two seconds and three thirds to play around with, though. It looks increasingly silly of Ron Hextall to send out picks to run it back with Nick Bonino and acquire a redundant player in Mikael Granlund (for a second-rounder).

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets being as bad as they were this season was not in the cards, especially not after signing Johnny Gaudreau in the offseason. With a coaching change and now a pair of trades, in addition to having the third-overall pick, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen appears to be fast-tracking the Jackets back to being a competitive squad once again. 

The only thing missing? A goaltender. CBJ shipped out Joonas Korpisalo at the deadline, leaving them with Elvis Merzlikins as the only true NHL-caliber netminder on the depth chart. Merzlikins' performance has taken a nosedive since he put up a .923 save percentage in his first season, posting a .918, then a .907 and bottoming out at .876 this season. Ullmark, at his worst, was a league-average goaltender on some poor teams in Buffalo. He'd be an instant upgrade at the starting position, and would certainly keep the Jackets on the fast track. 

Columbus has each of their next three firsts, although they're intent on keeping this year's, understandably. They also have two seconds and four thirds over the next three drafts, on top of a strong prospect pool. They have the assets to swing a deal, although they'd have to clear some cap room (currently with slightly below $6 million) to fit everything. 

Carolina Hurricanes

The Canes have been so, so close for a while now. 

Both Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen are set to become unrestricted free agents, leaving Pytor Kochetkov, likely ready to graduate to the NHL full-time anyway, as the only returning goaltender. 

Carolina has plenty of cap room, sitting at about $24 million, and they could easily just re-sign one of Raanta or Andersen. If both walk, they're left in a division that has top netminders like Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin among the contenders. They've got plenty of draft picks and a decent prospect cupboard to play around with. 

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers don't necessarily need a goaltender, per se. Edmonton did plenty of damage, at times in spite of their goaltending, and they should continue to do so. 

Ken Holland isn't exactly in a position to go after an upgrade though. Stuart Skinner has promise, and although he likely has buyer's remorse on the Jack Campbell contract, it appears Edmonton has made its bed in net. Campbell had some flashes last year, and his contract will be hard to move. Given that and the Oilers' cap situation, they probably couldn't swing a trade for Ullmark.

But if Holland were to set his heart on the B's netminder, it would certainly be an improvement, shoring up a bit of a weakness on a team with Cup aspirations.

St. Louis Blues

Part of St. Louis' undoing this season was Jordan Binnington's regression and his antics. Like Merzlikins, Binnington has seen a steady decline in his play since first bursting onto the scene, save for a resurgence in last year's postseason. 

Thomas Greiss, a pending UFA, is nothing more than a backup, and prospect Joel Hofer isn't far from making an impact at the NHL level. But Binnington being in the bottom echelon of goaltenders last season was an important factor in derailing St. Louis. Between his bloated contract and sideshow act on the ice, he may not be worth the headache for St. Louis if they can find a suitor. Ullmark would be an upgrade and a strong option to work ahead of Hofer.

The Blues are in a similar position to the Blue Jackets in the notion that they should be in a position to pick themselves up off the mat next season. There are plenty of picks (13 picks over the first three rounds in the next three drafts) to move in a trade. The hangup is the Blues' cap situation (about $7 million in space), plus the Binnington contract.

Los Angeles Kings

Perhaps the most intriguing team on this list is Los Angeles. The Kings were also a goalie away from being a true threat this season. Acquiring Korpisalo at the deadline in the Jonathan Quick deal helped, but the former was unable to put them over the top. 

With Korpisalo set to become a UFA and the trade that sent out Cal Peterson this week, LA is left with Phoenix Copley as the only other goaltender in the system to have at least played NHL games. The Kings are set up well both at forward and defense for their next window, the only thing lacking is the netminder.

What LA lacks in picks to trade they make up for in prospects with one of the deeper systems in the league, particularly at center, a main area of need for Boston. Ullmark would solve the Kings' goaltending situation in one fell swoop. They have just over $7 million in cap room, even after getting Peterson's money off the books.

Also in need of a goalie:

Count the Canadiens, Red Wings, Senators, Sabres (even with Devon Levi) and the Leafs among those potentially in the market for a goaltender, but considering they're in the Atlantic Division with Boston, it probably doesn't make as much sense for the Bruins to partner up here. There's also Anaheim (assuming John Gibson is mercifully moved), Chicago, San Jose and maybe even Vancouver out west, but they're really nowhere near competing. Hard to see them being on Ullmark's list of approved teams. 

With or without Ullmark, it's pretty robust at the top of the market for goaltenders

Whether or not Ullmark is truly a part of the goaltender market this summer, there still should be names on the move.

The Ducks have to find a new home for Gibson. His best years have been thrown away as Anaheim has bottomed out. He would make sense for any of the above teams, and more. There's Connor Hellebuyck, potentially headed for a new home after another Vezina-caliber season, given Winnipeg staring down a retool of some sort and his comments at the end of the season. He seems like he doesn't want to become the next Gibson, wasting away behind a middling product in front of him. 

Carter Hart is also on the shortlist of potential trade candidates. The Flyers need to make a decision on the young goaltender's future as they kick off a full-scale rebuild. He's been arguably their best player, even with below-average numbers on the surface behind a flatlining franchise. His value may never be higher. Like Gibson and Hellebuyck all of the above teams, and more, make sense as possible fits. 

The free agent market has solid options as well potentially between Korpisalo, Jarry, Rantta, Andersen, Adin Hill, Semyon Varlamov and Cam Talbot. If the Bruins find themselves in need of another goaltender that won't break the bank to supplant Swayman, there's Hill, Varlamov, Talbot, Laurent Broissoit, Alex Stalock and Greiss. 

Trade market, in general, picking up this week

The Flyers got the ball rolling with the Jackets and Kings in a three-team deal that saw Columbus come away with Ivan Provorov (30 percent retained). LA got a pair of minor leaguers in Kevin Connauton and Hayden Hodgson in addition to dead cap space after playing third-party broker in the deal. Philly got to begin its tear-down, receiving the 22nd overall pick, a conditional 2024 second (could become 2025) from Columbus on top of a 2024 second, prospect Helge Grans, Peterson and depth forward Sean Walker. The Flyers may just be getting started with Hart, Kevin Hayes and potentially others in line to fetch more picks and prospects.

Columbus wasn't done as Kekalainen continues to try to jumpstart the car, acquiring pending UFA Damon Severson in a sign-and-trade from the Devils for a third-round pick. Severson, who was set to become one of, if not the top free agent on the market, is locked up at $6.25 million for the next eight seasons. For just a third-round pick, it's a pretty good bit of business for the Jackets, who now have a formidable blue line (on paper) between Zach Werenski, Severson, Provorov and Adam Boqvist. Columbus is in line to finally get that franchise center with the third overall pick, something they've needed since their first day in the league. The only thing missing is the goaltender.

Panthers show a sign of life in Game 3

The Panthers were in need of a miracle after getting blown out in Game 2 of the finals to fall behind 0-2 in the series coming out of Vegas. 

They got their miracle in Game 3 from, guess who? Matthew Tkachuk, who sent the game to overtime with yet another clutch goal around the crease. More usual suspects in Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett were front-and-center on the winner in overtime to suddenly turn it back into a series. 

It was another installment of the improbable heroics that Florida has benefitted from in this team-of-destiny run in the postseason. They are now 7-0 in overtime in the playoffs. It was yet another comeback victory, giving the Cats a pulse ahead of Saturday's Game 4.