Devils interested in Bruins goalie ahead of trade deadline
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching and the Devils unable to pry Jacob Markstrom from Calgary so far, New Jersey could turn its attention to Bruins’ goalie Linus Ullmark.
The Devils badly need an upgrade in net as their inability to stop pucks has turned a team many expected to be a contender in the East into one of the league’s biggest disappointments. Vitek Vanacek has been injured since Feb. 10 and wasn’t good before that.
They’ve long been rumored to be engaged in talks with Calgary, but haven’t been able to complete a deal for Markstrom.
“Devils goalie options: preferred route is still to get Markstrom out of Calgary, or does an Ullmark trade with Boston make sense.”
Ullmark has a 16-team no-trade list. It’s unclear if the Devils are on that list. Even if they aren’t, the Bruins could be reluctant to weaken their strongest position. Boston would need a clear upgrade in another area to make a deal. Moving Ullmark would free up $5 million in salary cap space, which could allow Boston to make another deal as well.
At 30-28-4 (64 points), the Devils, who just fired coach Lindy Ruff, are eight points out of the second wild card. They could choose to sell now and address their goalie questions during the offseason.
Ullmark, who was last year’s Vezina Trophy winner, has one year left on his contract with Boston, but the emergence of Jeremy Swayman, who made 32 saves in Monday’s win, has made Ullmark potentially expendable.
The Bruins have very few prospects and limited draft capital. Ullmark, who is 16-7-7 with a 2.77, goals-against average and a .910 save percentage might be their most valuable trade commodity.
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