Bruins Trade Rumors: Ullmark Talks "Have Intensified"

Now that Jacob Markstrom, one of the top goaltenders available for trade this summer, is off the market, and one of the other teams in the bidding to add a new goaltender found one today as well, the Linus Ullmark sweepstakes have ramped up. And according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, the Senators feel they're now in the driver's seat, and talks with the Bruins "have intensified."

The Senators rightly feel that with two "buyers" off the market, they'll be able to squeeze the Bruins a bit to get a deal done.

Ottawa may now be the last serious team in the mix.
Knowing there wasn’t a fit with Calgary, league sources say that Steve Staios, the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager, has been making a hard push to try to acquire Ullmark.
League sources say the Senators have circled back to the Bruins to see if there’s a fit to acquire Ullmark to steady the club’s struggling net, and those talks have intensified.

The Senators have been tied to both Markstrom and Ullmark going all the way back to the trade deadline, but now it's clear who their focus is, after the Devils obtained the Calgary Flames' netminder, and the LA Kings dealt Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals for Darcy Kuemper.

Garrioch does mention, however (and this could potentially be a negotiation tactic on their part), that the Sens have also "kicked the tires" on Nashville Predators backstop Juuse Saros.

A deal for Ullmark to Ottawa makes sense for both sides, as the Bruins need to re-sign Jeremy Swayman to a big extension, and it would be tough to allot such a large amount of the cap to two goaltenders. As for the Sens, their goaltending was a disaster last season, as Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg were among the worst goalie tandem in the NHL.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on it and we’re still working hard on it," senior vice president Dave Poulin told Garrioch. "Our goaltending will be better next season.”