BOSTON — Don Sweeney was doing more than talking to the media as he sat at the podium at the Bruins’ end-of-the-season management press conference on Wednesday at TD Garden.
Sweeney was asked about Linus Ullmark’s stated desire to stay in Boston and whether it was feasible from a roster-building standpoint to have a large percentage of the salary cap tied up in two goalies.
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Ullmark is heading into the least season of a deal worth $5 million per season, while the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman are working toward a long-term contract that is likely to pay him more than that coming off a terrific postseason run. The Bruins have almost $21 million in cap space, but are looking to add scoring to their roster. Trading Ullmark and making the Swayman the No. 1 goalie would free up more cap space, but Ullmark has a 15-team no-trade clause that makes dealing him that much harder.
“We’re going to find a landing spot with Jeremy Swayman, and if we can make the math work, we’re going to have the best tandem,” Sweeney said. “If we can’t, we’re going to explore, and for Linus, he may come to us and change his mind. That may occur as well. We were very happy to sign Linus, and in a perfect world, we would keep the tandem because I think it’s damn good. But we’re going to explore opportunities. My phone’s going to ring, I’m going to make calls. That’s just what the job requires.”
There’s a lot to parse in there.
“If we can make the math work” is the key phrase because most teams aren’t spending $11 million or more on their goalie tandem. The math isn’t likely to work for two elite goalies unless it isn’t working someplace else in the lineup. If the Bruins’ attempts to fortify the rest of their roster fail, then having two elite goalies offers the same advantages it did in 2023-24.
Ullmark, who’ll turn 31 this summer, was 22-10-7 with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
Sweeney was likely sending messages and protecting himself at the same time. It’s possible the Bruins won’t find a deal for Ullmark. He’s not the only No. 1 goalie on the market and it’s possible that the teams who aren’t on his block list that would be interested could also be inquiring about Jacob Markstrom or Juuse Saros. Sweeney doesn’t want to alienate Ullmark in case he’s back in Boston.
He also doesn’t want to seem too eager to deal him either. Sweeney is motivated to get value for a Vezina-winning goalie whether it’s in the form of draft picks or a player.
