Boston Bruins Countdown to Camp: Linus Ullmark

From now till the start of coaching camp, Boston Hockey Now’s profiling gamers who will probably be on, or have an opportunity to be on, the 2022-23 Boston Bruins. At present’s participant: Linus Ullmark.

Social Media Handles: Twitter (@Icebeardude) and Instagram (@lullmark)

What Occurred Final Yr: Ullmark, 29, had a stable first season in Boston after signing a four-year contract in free company and fashioned a stable two-man goaltending tandem with rookie Jeremy Swayman. Ullmark bought off to a sluggish begin at his new NHL spot whereas he bought used to his environment however stepped up his recreation alternating sturdy stretches with Swayman for the remainder of the season.

Ullmark completed with a 2.45 targets towards common and a .917 save share and performed properly sufficient down the stretch that he earned the Recreation 1 begin in Boston’s first spherical playoff collection towards the Carolina Hurricanes. As a tandem, the Boston Bruins duo of Ullmark and Swayman completed fourth within the NHL with a 2.66 targets towards common and eighth within the league with a mixed .913 save share.

In addition they survived as a duo when it appeared just like the Bruins had been making an attempt to push Tuukka Rask on the scene as each younger goalies had been unproven within the playoffs. Because it turned out each Ullmark and Swayman bought important expertise within the postseason and charmed the hockey world with their celebratory goalie hugs following victories.

Questions To Be Answered This Season: The most important query with Ullmark is simply how significantly better he can get as he enters his prime years as an NHL goalie and whether or not he may ever wrest the No. 1 job for himself. The guess right here is that Swayman would be the No. 1 goalie of the long run for the Black and Gold, and that his ascendance to that spot ought to occur throughout the subsequent couple of seasons.

That leaves Ullmark because the regular, skilled goalie companion that has the credentials to be a 50/50 duo with Swayman for now and will take issues to a different degree as he continues to realize consolation and confidence in Boston. One massive, burning query is whether or not the 6-foot-4, 209-pound Ullmark may ever keep wholesome sufficient to shoulder a real No. 1 goalie workload after accidents hampered him in Buffalo simply as a lot as a lackluster group round him did more often than not.

However we might by no means study the reply to this query in Boston with Swayman round for no less than half the workload

In Their Phrases: “In the event that they ask me to play, I’ll play. If it’s Sway, they need to play then I will probably be there for him and again him up.” –Linus Ullmark on sharing the workload together with his victory hug buddy Jeremy Swayman.

General Outlook: After some unrest concerning the four-year, $20 million contract given to Ullmark by the Boston Bruins final summer season, issues settled fairly properly for Ullmark and Swayman as a two-man puck-stopping group. The hope is that may proceed for the subsequent couple of seasons with the B’s paying out a lot much less cash for goalies now than they did for the likes of Rask and Jaroslav Halak a few seasons in the past.

The query turns into how significantly better the 2 of them can get it and the way lengthy the 2 can co-exist as soon as Swayman earns himself a much bigger contract popping out of his entry-level deal. However for subsequent season there ought to be much more of Ullmark and Swayman stopping pucks, hugging one another after wins and turning into a really stable two-man group that feels lots completely different than the final decade when Tuukka Rask was the unquestioned No. 1 netminder for Boston. The one time the goalie duo would possibly turn out to be cumbersome is playoff motion when each goaltenders clearly would really like their quantity known as, however that’s a fairly good drawback to have in case you’re the Boston Bruins.