After being traded from the Boston Bruins last season, Linus Ullmark is now slated to stay for more years with the Ottawa Senators as the team seeks to come up with a playoff run after a dismal season. The 31-year-old goalie is now slated to play for the team until the 2028-29 NHL season unless he is traded.

Ullmark initially had one season left to go in his four-year, $20 million contract ($5 million AAV) he signed with the Boston Bruins on July 28, 2021. Had he not signed with the Senators this season, Ullmark would have ended up as an unrestricted free agent after the season and would have been a massive icon in the free agency market. Instead, the Senators lock him up and intend to build around him in the coming years.

It is worth noting that Ullmark is yet to play a game for the Senators due to an injury. He was sent by the Bruins in a package that landed them goalie Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic and a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft in return. Now Ullmark is expected to come up with a bigger stride in the coming season with the hopes of guiding the young squad of the Senators to bigger results.

A Bigger Chance for Ullmark

Ullmark said that this was quite unexpected and felt that it is a monumental signing for him. The goalie has seen a lot of tough stretches in his career, but he is pleased to say that this chance that the Senators have given him is a hope that he can still engineer his career in th NHL and somehow be a top-performing star for the team in the months to come.

"To all the people of Ottawa and Gatineau, I've felt the support and the love right from the start. It took me literally five minutes to be recognized when I went out for coffee my first day here. At that point, as well, you can tell that it's a Canadian market and that hockey is what it's all about,” Ullmark said. “I'm very thankful that I have now the opportunity to build something long term. I'm trying to bring all of my experience from those hardships and also the good times into this organization.”

Ullmark is slated to play under the reins of Brady Tkachuk, who took over captaincy for the Senators this season. The latter is pleased to play alongside the star and seeks to see him in action when they wage their campaign for the 2024-25 NHL season.

A Massive Addition for the Senators

Ottawa isn’t much of a big team to look out for considering how poorly they finished with a 37-41-4 record last season – which was the third worst in the Eastern Conference, merely ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Adding Ullmark, however, is a sign that they are not backing down from the challenge of improvement this season.

Ullmark finished 22-10-7 with a 2.57 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and two shutouts in 40 regular-season games (39 starts) with Boston last season. The sixth-round selection of the Buffalo Sabres back in the 2012 NHL Draft boasts a 138-73-23 with a 2.51 GAA, .919 save percentage and eight shutouts in 247 regular-season games for his career and is one of the best goalies in the game, having won the Vezina trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

Now with the Senators, Ullmark believes that he can focus well with everything settled for him in the coming months. Fans can expect him to deliver his elite-level defense and help Ottawa qualify for the playoffs now more than ever.