The Senators address their goaltending concerns in a big way, acquiring the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner.

Steve Staios has made his first major deal as the Ottawa Senators' general manager. The timing of the announcement, just before Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, probably won't win many points with Gary Bettman, but it is going over very well with the club's fan base.

The Senators have acquired goalie Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins. In return, Ottawa gives up the 25th overall pick in Friday's draft (which originally belonged to the Bruins), centre Mark Kastelic, and goalie Joonas Korpisalo. The Senators will retain 25% of Korpisalo's remaining salary as part of the deal.

Staios managed a heavy upgrade on the Senators' goaltending for next season, moved on from Korpisalo and 75% of the four years remaining on his contract, and did it without giving up the 7th overall selection or a top player from the core.

The immediate question is whether Ullmark will sign an extension here. Like a couple of his new teammates, Jakob Chychrun and Claude Giroux, the 30-year-old Ullmark is an unrestricted free agent after next season. Ullmark's salary is $4,500,000, and his cap hit is $5,000,000 for the 2024-25 season. He's not eligible for an extension until July 1st, a week from today.

But don't expect an extension next week. If he re-signs here, it won't be until he gets his feet wet and gets to know the city, the organization and his new teammates. Even if he likes it here, there's no way the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner is foregoing the open auction of free agency unless the Senators make it worth his while.

Even if Ullmark doesn't re-sign here, the deal still looks like a win for the Senators. Shedding most of the Korpisalo deal is well worth giving up Kastelic and a late first-rounder.

After that trade-off cancels out, the Sens effectively get a year of Ullmark for free.

Patience paid off for Staios, as Ullmark's list of possible suitors was whittled down last week. New Jersey (Jacob Markstrom) and Los Angeles (Darcy Kuemper) found goaltending solutions elsewhere, so this was the best remaining option for the Bruins.

Clearly, the Bruins believe that Korpisalo is better than he showed in Ottawa, and effectively getting him for four years at $3 million a year made sense for them behind starter Jeremy Swayman. 

Kastelic is a big fourth-line centre who can skate and seemed to find some confidence in the second half of last season. He's entering the final year of his contract and will be an RFA at its conclusion.

Ullmark spent three seasons in Boston, where he won the Vezina in 2023. He also posted an NHL-best 1.89 goals-against average in 2021-22 to help the Bruins set an NHL single-season wins record.

At the very least, Staios and his team can better measure what they have and how close this team is to returning to playoff contention. The Senators now have a proven goalie who helps keep them in games. Last year, on 22 occasions, their goalies gave up a goal on the first or second shot of the game.

If Ullmark gets here and suddenly struggles – in a contract year, no less – then Staios will know that the team's problems are far more significant than goaltending.

But in the blue sky version of this story, Ullmark has a big season in Ottawa, re-signs with the club, and helps the Senators to some long-awaited better days.

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