BREAKING: NHL Insider Connects Eastern Conference Rival with Bruins’ Star Goalie
BREAKING: NHL Insider Connects Eastern Conference Rival with Bruins’ Star Goalie
Star goaltender Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins is one of the most talked about players in the trade rumors building up to the NHL trade deadline in March of 2024. It looks likely that Ullmark will be traded again this summer.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet conjectured that the Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes conducted trade talks regarding Ullmark at the trade deadline in an episode of “32 Thoughts: The Podcast” that aired on May 24.
“At the deadline, I think the Bruins and the Hurricanes discussed an Ullmark deal,” Friedman stated. “I’m not sure if [Martin Necas, the Hurricanes’ winger] was involved. However, I believe they discussed something.
Friedman continued by saying that Necas’ future in Carolina appears more uncertain than ever, opening the door for the Bruins and Hurricanes to potentially reopen trade talks this offseason involving the winger, who is a restricted free agency.
Trade talks involving Linus Ullmark pick back up following the Stanley Cup playoffs.
At the trade deadline, the Bruins were actively shopping Ullmark, the winner of the 2023 Vezina Trophy. On deadline day, March 8, NHL insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff stated that the team even had a framework in place for a trade that would have sent the 30-year-old goaltender to the Los Angeles Kings. However, Ullmark rejected the move, according to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, “largely due to geography.”
With the Bruins, Ullmark inked a four-year, $20 million contract in 2021 that included a 16-team no-trade clause. In 2024–2025, that no-trade list is reduced to 15 teams. Don Sweeney, general manager of the Boston Bruins, refused to say if Ullmark used the no-trade provision to thwart a possible deadline transaction.
“In the end, I won’t ever engage in a discussion regarding what I may have discussed with Linus,” Sweeney stated to the press on March 8 during his news conference following the trade deadline. “I’ve admitted that we looked into various scenarios and had the chance to rotate players.”
Now that Boston’s 2023–24 season is behind them, it becomes sense to assume that Ullmark will be the focus of trade negotiations once more. With only one season remaining on his deal and a manageable $5 million budget burden, Friedman’s observations regarding the Bruins and Hurricanes trade talks around the deadline raise the possibility that the parties will discuss trades again this summer.
Friedman Possiblely Links Martin Necas of the Hurricanes to the Bruins
Friedman stated that while he was unsure if Necas was discussed during the March trade talks between the Bruins and Hurricanes, he was very likely included today if the parties continued to negotiate in the offseason. In an episode of “32 Thoughts: The Podcast” from May 17, Friedman stated that Necas’ request for a contract extension is probably too high compared to what the Hurricanes are willing to give him, and that it is unlikely that Carolina will comply with “what Necas wants to do.”
Friedman proposed that Necas was no longer as much of a long-term financial priority since Seth Jarvis, another upcoming restricted free agent, had eclipsed Necas internally on the Hurricanes’ depth chart. The Hurricanes will probably shop his signing rights this summer as a result.
Necas leads the Hurricanes with 97 goals and 243 points in 362 games played. In 59 postseason games, he has also contributed 11 goals and 30 points. If the Bruins were to resume trade talks with Carolina this summer, they would have the flexibility to consider a trade for Necas’ signing rights and a multi-year contract because as of May 24, they had 12 pending free agents on their roster (three restricted, nine unrestricted). They also had more than $20 million in cap space.
