Senators step up efforts to acquire Boston’s Linus Ullmark

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The National Hockey League’s goaltending market took a couple of twists and turns Wednesday that may have left the Ottawa Senators in a position of strength.

While league sources told Postmedia earlier in the day the Senators had already stepped up their efforts to acquire goaltender Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins, Ottawa may now be the last serious team in the mix.

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Heading into next season with a priority to improve the goaltending, the Ottawa Senators saw one goalie disappear from the market when the Calgary Flames dealt top netminder Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defenceman Kevin Bahl, plus a 2025 first-round draft pick.

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 Los Angeles Kings were also trying to acquire Ullmark, but they dealt forward Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals later Wednesday for goaltender Darcy Kuemper.

The club has also kicked tires on Nashville Predators netminder Juuse Saros with the NHL draft set for June 28-29 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg were ranked among the worst goalies in the league last season, not only with their goals-against average but also in save percentage. Korpisalo was supposed to help stabilize the club’s net, but that never materialized.

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Speaking at a season-ticket holder event last week, Dave Poulin, the club’s senior vice-president, told the fans that the club’s hockey operations department knows it has to improve the goaltending.

The Senators’ goaltenders gave up a combined 22 goals on the first or second shot of the game last season. That just can’t happen because it destroys confidence. That’s why the Senators are trying desperately to see if they can find a fix.

“A lot of different factors go into analyzing (the club’s goaltending),” Poulin said at the event. “We’ve spent a lot of time on it and we’re still working hard on it. Our goaltending will be better next season.”

It has to be or the chances of making the playoffs will be slim to none, and the Senators haven’t been to the post-season since 2017.

As noted in this space on June 9, the Senators were aggressive in their pursuit of Markstrom, but sources say Calgary GM Craig Conroy and Staios weren’t able to find common ground, which left talks at a standstill.

This is the second time the Senators have made a concerted effort to acquire Ullmark. The Senators were unable to get a deal in place to acquire him from the Bruins before the deadline in March after Staios held several discussions with Boston general manager Don Sweeney.

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The Senators, Kings and Devils were among several teams that made a push for the 30-year-old Ullmark then. The indications are Ullmark refused to change his 15-team no trade list, which meant a possible deal to the Devils was scuttled, and that’s why they pursued Markstrom.

Making $5 million U.S. heading into the final year of his deal, Ullmark split the duties with Jeremy Swayman in the regular season, but made only one start in the playoffs.

A restricted free agent, the Bruins want to sign Swayman to a long-term extension, which means Ullmark is available. Boston has also stepped up its efforts to move the 30-year-old Ullmark because he has a $1-million signing bonus due on July 1 that will make up part of his $4.5 million salary.

The Senators offered Korpisalo to the Bruins as part of a package for Ullmark at the deadline, but the Bruins had no interest. Boston can’t afford to take on the $16 million in salary and the four years remaining on Korpisalo’s contract.

We’re led to believe the Bruins may have some interest in taking back Forsberg because he only has one year left at $2.75 million on his deal, but the indications are there’s work to be done if the two sides are going to be able to make a deal.

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A league executive believes the Senators would likely have to offer defenceman Jakob Chychrun along with a first-round pick and another selection to acquire Ullmark. Even then, he has a modified no-trade clause that has 15 teams on it and it’s not known if Ottawa is on that list.

Chychrun, 26, is headed into the final year of a contract that will pay him $4.6 million and the club has been scouring the market to see what they may be able to get in return. The Senators aren’t in any rush to deal Chychrun, but this is the time when teams are engaged in making changes.

THE CAPITAL CUP

Former Senators chief pro scout Rob Murphy has added another capital city to his resumé.

Murphy, 55, who was let go by Staios and the Senators in early April, along with pro scout Jim Clark, has agreed to a multi-year deal to work in the pro scouting department of the Washington Capitals.

An original member of the Senators, Murphy was selected by Ottawa in the 1992 NHL expansion draft and is active with the club’s alumni.

The well-respected Murphy, who was in his second stint with Ottawa, has been scouting since 2007. He has also spent time with the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres in his career.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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