East Notes: Ullmark, Flyers/Senators Talks, Potulny

With Jacob Markstrom now in New Jersey, the Senators have stepped up their efforts to acquire Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  Ullmark saw his numbers drop this year compared to his Vezina-winning 2022-23 campaign but he still posted a solid 2.57 GAA with a .915 SV% in 40 games.  Those numbers would represent a significant improvement on the 3.30 and .888 that Ottawa put up as a team in 2023-24.  Ullmark has one year left on his contract with a $5MM price tag and it’s worth noting that he has a 16-team no-trade clause so he does have some say in where he could ultimately be moved.

Meanwhile, Garrioch adds that the Bruins don’t have interest in taking back the final four years of Joonas Korpisalo’s contract as expected.  However, with Anton Forsberg ($2.75MM) set to enter the final year of his deal next season, Boston could be amenable to taking him back, allowing the Senators to reduce the additional salary they’re taking on.  That said, Garrioch notes that there is still work to be done before this possible swap has a chance of reaching the finish line.

Elsewhere in the East:

• We’ve had three trades announced today and it appears progress was made on another one. TSN’s Travis Yost suggests (Twitter link) that the Senators and Flyers have the framework of a deal in place although it might not be announced until closer to the trade. No specifics as to who was involved were provided but those teams could be worth keeping an eye on in the coming days.
• It appears that the Rangers are closing in on finding their next head coach at AHL Hartford. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Grant Potulny is expected to become the Wolf Pack’s next head coach.  Potulny spent the last seven seasons at Northern Michigan before resigning recently, citing a desire to pursue a position in professional hockey.  Kris Knoblauch started the season in Hartford before being hired away by Edmonton while Steve Smith served as the interim bench boss for the rest of the season.