The Bruins had discussions with the Hurricanes about one of their stars.
Boston Bruins star goalie Linus Ullmark was one of the biggest names in the rumor mill leading up to the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. This is once again the case with the Bruins' season over and after Ullmark lost the Bruins' crease to Jeremy Swayman during the playoffs.
Ullmark blocked a move to a team on his no-trade list at the deadline. The Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche have come up as potential clubs he rejected the trade to.
However, these were not the only potential teams who expressed interest in Ullmark at the deadline. During Monday's edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman shared that the Bruins had trade discussions with the Carolina Hurricanes about Ullmark near the deadline.
Here is what the NHL insider said on the matter:
I do believe the Bruins and the Hurricanes talked about an Ullmark deal [at the deadline]. I don’t know if it involved Necas. But I do think they talked about something."
Hearing that the Hurricanes were in on Ullmark this season is not surprising. Frederik Andersen missed most of this season due to a blood clot issue, while Antti Raanta took a big step backward. Adding Ullmark would have given the Canes a star to work with promising youngster Pyotr Kochetkov.
Once Andersen returned to action, he was excellent, so Carolina's previous interest in Ullmark is not guaranteed to carry over this summer. However, this development from Friedman certainly makes this something to pay attention to from here.
As we wrote here on The Hockey News early Friday morning, Necas would be a great target for the Bruins this summer. While Friedman could not confirm if Necas was involved in the previous trade talks between the Canes and Bruins, his future in Carolina is now looking murky. Perhaps this could be something the two clubs could look into.