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Linus Ullmark

Linus Ullmark To Miss At Least A Month

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Yesterday, Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger indicated that he was hopeful that goaltender Linus Ullmark would be in a day-to-day situation after missing their two games this weekend.  Unfortunately for him and Buffalo, that isn’t the case.  Speaking with reporters before today’s matinee including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News (Twitter link), the best-case scenario for the netminder is that he’ll be back in a month.

Ullmark sustained the lower-body injury in the first period of Thursday’s game against New Jersey after making a stop on Nico Hischier.  Carter Hutton took his place after the period ended and is likely to play both games against the Flyers this weekend but Harrington suggests in a separate tweet that the Sabres may have to look outside the organization beyond that point.

That may be a good idea for GM Kevyn Adams.  While Ullmark has done well this season with a 2.44 GAA and a .919 SV%, Hutton’s regression has continued.  After putting up career-worsts in GAA (3.18) and SV% (.898) in 2019-20, he has failed to improve upon those this season, checking in at 3.24 and .889 respectively heading into today’s contest.  Technically still just six points out of a playoff spot, their postseason hopes aren’t entirely dashed but relying on Hutton to carry the load while trying to stay in the mix would be risky.

However, goaltending depth has been hard to come by this season as they’ve been snatched up off waivers routinely to the point where some teams are simply carrying three goalies to avoid the risk of losing their third-stringer for nothing.  That means that trading for a short-term upgrade is even going to be harder than usual.

In the meantime, Jonas Johansson has been promoted from the taxi squad and will serve as Hutton’s backup this weekend.  We’ll soon see if they’re able to bring someone else in or if they’ll indeed be filling Ullmark’s absence internally until he’s able to return.

East Notes: Sabres Injuries, Clutterbuck, Dal Colle, Schneider

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There’s some good news and some bad news on the injury front for the Sabres in advance of their pair of weekend matinees against Philadelphia.  The good news is that there’s a chance that defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen could return with head coach Ralph Krueger telling reporters, including Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, that there’s a “high possibility” that the blueliner could play on Saturday.  Ristolainen was off to a good start to his season with six points in ten games while logging over 23 minutes per night before a particularly tough bout with COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the bad news is that center Jack Eichel and goaltender Linus Ullmark aren’t expected to be available for either game, relays Jourdan LaBarber on the Sabres’ team website.  Eichel was a late scratch on Thursday after experiencing some discomfort during the pregame warmup and is listed as day-to-day.  As for Ullmark, he left after the first period yesterday with Krueger indicating that they’re hopeful he will only be day-to-day after their weekend games.  One of Dustin Tokarski or Jonas Johansson will need to be recalled from the taxi squad.

Elsewhere in the East Division:

  • Islanders winger Cal Clutterbuck missed practice today due to an unspecified injury with head coach Barry Trotz classifying him as day-to-day, notes Newsday’s Andrew Gross. He left Thursday’s contest against Boston in the first period and did not return.  However, it appears that New York could get some good news on the injury front as Michael Dal Colle practiced today and could be available for one of their games this weekend.  The 24-year-old is currently on IR with a lower-body injury and has missed the last four games.
  • From the same column, Gross notes that Islanders goaltender Cory Schneider has been designated as a non-roster player and is unavailable due to family reasons. That was what prompted Jakub Skarek to be recalled to the taxi squad yesterday to keep the team compliant in having three available goaltenders.  New York now has an extra roster spot available although with an extra forward and defenseman up on most game days, they likely won’t need to use it.

Snapshots: Ullmark, Tryamkin, Thornton

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The Buffalo Sabres have been taking the ice without Linus Ullmark for the last two games and this morning the goaltender explained why. After Monday’s morning skate, Ullmark received news that his father had passed away in Sweden. Carter Hutton took the net that evening, but captain Jack Eichel awarded Ullmark with the game puck after a 6-1 victory. He expressed his gratitude towards the whole organization for how they’ve come to his support in the days since.

Ullmark plans on traveling with the team to Washington and could be available for Friday’s game against the Capitals. Hutton meanwhile will not be on the trip as he deals with an injury and is listed as day-to-day.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have a very interesting relationship with Russian defenseman Nikita Tryamkin, who is still playing in the KHL despite a long negotiation last year. The 26-year-old defender is still technically a restricted free agent and can only sign with the Canucks if he chooses to return to the NHL. Now, Rick Dhaliwal of TSN gives an update on the situation and spoke with Yekaterinburg executive Maxim Ryabkov, who expressed how much Tryamkin has improved in the last year, even calling him “one of the best defensemen in the KHL.” The 6’7″ behemoth pairs incredible size with excellent skating ability to shut down rushes and move the puck quickly. If he is not signed this offseason, Tryamkin can actually become an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs had the blender out at practice today following a loss to the Edmonton Oilers that included Joe Thornton’s early exit with an injury. Thornton will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury but is expected to miss some time. Interestingly, Auston Matthews also left practice just before it began, though all head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN that the star center “wasn’t feeling great.” Adam Brooks, Pierre Engvall, and Alexander Barabanov were all skating with the main group as the Maple Leafs try to figure out their lines moving forward.

East Notes: Barzal, Cizikas, Olofsson, Peterka

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With the opening of training camp, New York Islander players have undergone off-ice testing today. However, one notable missing player today is unsigned restricted free agent Mathew Barzal, who now is considered to officially be a holdout, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple.

Head coach Barry Trotz confirmed that Barzal is not in camp, although he said Barzal is on Long Island. He said he will make due without Barzal for now. The team currently only has $3.9MM in cap room, but once the team is able to put defenseman Johnny Boychuk on LTIR due to a career-ending eye injury, that should open up some extra cap space to sign the first-line center.

“You have to make sure you’re adaptable,” Trotz said. “We’re going to worry about who we can put on the ice.”

  • Sticking with the Islanders, Staple reports that forward Casey Cizikas is in camp and ready to go. The 29-year-old forward was forced to leave the bubble during the playoffs after suffering an eye injury. Cizikas told Staple that he took a hit to the head during the playoffs and the vision in his left eye went blurry. After leaving the bubble, the key fourth-line forward was diagnosed with a detached retina. “I feel comfortable and confident on the ice now, so that’s the most important thing,” said Cizikas.
  • When Taylor Hall signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres, the former Hart Trophy winner was penciled in next two Jack Eichel and winger Victor Olofsson. Unfortunately, the first few days of camp haven’t given him much playing time with those linemates as Eichel has been out with an upper-body injury and has been day-to-day with the start of camp. Now, Olofsson is also listed as day-to-day. The forward left practice Saturday after crashing hard into the goal post while doing a one-on-one drill with Rasmus Dahlin at full speed, according to The Athletic’s Jon Vogl. He was favoring his left arm. However, head coach Ralph Kruger said Sunday that he expects Eichel, Olofsson and goaltender Linus Ullmark to return by Wednesday, according to the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski, although that likely means they will miss Monday’s scrimmage.
  • Despite an impressive showing for Team Germany at the World Juniors last week, Buffalo Sabres prospect John-Jason Peterka will not be attending Buffalo’s training camp. The 18-year-old is expected to return to Germany and play for EHC Munchen in the DEL where he has been playing since last season. The team’s second-round pick (34th overall) scored seven goals amongst men in 42 games there last season and should take a much bigger role with his team this year. Vogl adds that Krueger knows Peterka’s coach in the DEL and believes he will develop him well.

Snapshots: Smith, Sexton, Eichel

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The Chicago Blackhawks will start training camp in a few days and, perhaps surprisingly, Zack Smith will be there. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times spoke to Smith’s agent today and reports that Smith is healthy and plans to be in camp this year, fighting for a roster spot with everyone else. The veteran forward hasn’t played in nearly a year, last hitting the ice on February 12, 2020, before back surgery put him on the shelf.

Earlier this week it was also reported that Andrew Shaw is healthy and will be attending camp, meaning suddenly the Blackhawks have a pair of NHL forward that weren’t being penciled into the lineup just a few months ago. That’s good news, especially given the recent losses the team has experienced, with Kirby Dach, Jonathan Toews, and Alexander Nylander all ruled out, perhaps for the entire season. Shaw and Smith are certainly not replacements for those names, but they at least can provide a little depth to a reeling squad.

  • The Minnesota Wild have hired Randy Sexton as Senior Advisor to the General Manager, where he will re-join former colleague Bill Guerin. The two spent years together with the Pittsburgh Penguins when Guerin was first a development coach, then an AGM, and Sexton the team’s director of amateur scouting. More recently Sexton was an AGM for the Buffalo Sabres, working with Jason Botterill, another former Pittsburgh executive, but was swept out with everyone else when changes were made this summer.
  • Speaking of Buffalo, things didn’t get off to a good start today, though it’s not time to panic just yet. Jack Eichel missed the first on-ice session of training camp due to an upper-body injury and is listed day-to-day in his recovery. Interestingly, that left Casey Mittelstadt and Riley Sheahan rotating through the first line center spot between Taylor Hall and Victor Olofsson. Sheahan of course is in camp on a PTO trying to make a name for himself, so today was a nice opportunity to make an early impression. The team also didn’t have Linus Ullmark on the ice thanks to an immigration issue that pushed back his quarantine period. Buffalo expects the goaltender to join them in the next few days.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Buffalo Sabres

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It’s Thanksgiving this week in the United States and the holiday season is right around the corner. Like the last few years, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for but this year comes with a bit of a change. Normally teams would have an idea of where their season was heading, coming up on the one-quarter mark with mountains of statistics to analyze. Instead, in this unprecedented year, the season hasn’t even begun. We’ll still take a look at what each group is excited about and what they could hope for once the calendar turns to 2021.

What are the Sabres most thankful for?

A deep forward group.

No longer are the Sabres putting all their hopes on youngsters. The team is suddenly loaded with established players who have proven themselves. To go with Jack Eichel, the team has added a number of key additions to go with solid playmakers as the team now boasts Eichel, Taylor Hall, Eric Staal, Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson and a number of other players who can thrive in bottom-six roles like Kyle Okposo, Cody Eakins, Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, etc. The depth at forward is a major improvement for a team that needs to score and this team should have that quality of depth that should be able to give Buffalo a chance to earn their first playoff appearance in nine years.

Who are the Sabres most thankful for?

Taylor Hall.

With the pandemic flattening out the salary cap for the foreseeable future, there weren’t too many long-term offers for Hall, the top free agent of the 2020 free agent class. Instead, Hall looked for a short-term deal from a team with extra cap room and surprised quite a few people when he picked the Sabres, due to the chance to play next to Eichel for the year.

The addition of Hall, totally enhances the team’s top-nine as he immediately will slot into the top line next to Eichel and will finally get a chance to play next to an elite center, something he hasn’t had in quite a number of years. The hope is that Hall can find his game from two years ago when he was the Hart Trophy winner with the New Jersey Devils, leading them single-handedly into the playoffs. If he can do that for the Sabres, Buffalo should have a legitimate chance to break their nine-year drought and Hall will establish himself again as the top free agent for 2021 in hopes of landing that big-term deal.

What would the Sabres be even more thankful for?

A return to form of Jeff Skinner.

After posting a 40-goal season in 2018-19 and signing a eight-year, $72MM deal, things never panned out after that for Skinner, who struggled mightily with just 14 goals and 23 points in 59 games last season. The forward was a disaster and found himself spending quite a bit of time on the third line trying to find his game. With seven years at $9MM AAV, the Sabres have to hope that Skinner will be able to bounce back and become that fixture on the second line that they were hoping for. The talent is there to surround the goal-scoring forward, but the team needs for him to execute, otherwise the team will be stuck with a player and a contract that they don’t want.

What should be on the Sabres’ Holiday Wish List?

The Sabres may be in need of help in goal. The Sabres have a solid offense and defense, but their goaltending could be what’s holding them back. The team can hope that Linus Ullmark is ready to take the starting load this season. He did produce impressive numbers with a .915 save percentage in 34 appearances, but is he the answer in net? Unfortunately, top goaltending prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, might not be ready for another couple of years, meaning the team may need to find a way to bring in a more proven goaltender that can handle big minutes.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2020 Arbitration Tracker

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Originally published on Oct 13

The dates for the upcoming arbitration hearings have been set, with the first three being held on October 20. Hearings will continue through November 8. It is important to remember that this offseason, once a hearing begins, teams are no longer allowed to negotiate with the player in question while the arbitrator deliberates.

The full schedule is:

October 20

Andrew Mangiapane – Settled, 2 years $2.43MM AAV
Anthony DeAngelo – Settled, 2 years $4.8MM AAV
Matt Grzelcyk – Settled, 4 years, $3.69MM AAV

October 21

Ilya Mikheyev – Settled, 2 years $1.65MM AAV

October 22

Connor Brown – Settled, 3 years, $3.6MM AAV

October 25

Tyler Bertuzzi – Player filing: $4.25MM – Team filing: $3.15MM – Awarded: $3.5MM

October 26

Linus Ullmark – Settled, 1 year, $2.6MM AAV

October 27

Sam Reinhart – Settled, 1 year, $5.2MM AAV

October 28

Jake Virtanen* – Settled, 2 years, $2.55MM AAV

October 30

Joshua Ho-Sang – Settled, 1 year, $700K AAV (two-way)

October 31

Devon Toews – Settled, 4 years, $4.1MM AAV
Alexandar Georgiev – Settled, 2 years, $2.43MM AAV

November 1

Nick Paul – Settled, 2 years, $1.35MM AAV

November 2

Gustav Forsling  – Settled, 1 year, $700K AAV (two-way)

November 4

Victor Olofsson – Settled, 2 years, $3.05MM AAV
Warren Foegele – Settled, 1 year, $2.14MM AAV

November 5

Ryan Strome – Player filing: $5.7MM, Team Filing: 3.6MM – Settled: 2 years, $4.5MM AAV

November 6

Brendan Lemieux – Player filing: $2MM, Team Filing: 2 years, $1.0125MM AAV – Settled: 2 years, $1.55MM AAV
Ryan Pulock – Settled, 2 years, $5.0MM AAV

November 7

Christian Jaros – Settled, 1 year, $750K (two-way)

November 8

Chris Tierney – Settled, 2 years, $3.5MM AAV
MacKenzie Weegar – Settled, 3 years $3.25MM AAV
Haydn Fleury – Settled, 2 years, $1.3MM AAV

*Virtanen was not included in the NHLPA’s announcement, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports he will have a hearing on the 28th. 

Sabres Re-Sign Linus Ullmark To A One-Year Deal

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The Sabres have avoided salary arbitration for the second time today.  This time, it’s goaltender Linus Ullmark who has avoided a hearing as the team announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year, $2.6MM contract.  The deal comes in just above our $2.55MM projection.

The two sides exchanged figures on Saturday with Buffalo offering $1.8MM and Ullmark requesting $4.1MM.  As expected, the contract checks in a bit below the midpoint of $2.95MM.

Ullmark had a decent showing last season, putting up a 2.69 GAA with a .915 SV% in 34 starts, numbers that were a lot better than his showing in 2018-19 and his platoon mate in Carter Hutton.  Despite that, however, he was basically in a platoon situation all season long, a situation that could once again present itself in 2020-21.

Most notable about this contract is that it takes the 27-year-old right to unrestricted free agency next offseason.  While this has been a tough free agent market for quite a few players, that hasn’t been the case for goaltenders as they went off the board early and often with many of them earning raises.  Part of that is due to the expectation of a condensed schedule which necessitated the need for a better backup but as more teams shift towards tandems instead of a better starter with a weaker backup, Ullmark could be well-positioned to get a bigger deal next offseason.

It’s also worth noting that Hutton is an unrestricted free agent in 2021 as well.  All of a sudden, GM Kevyn Adams will have an opportunity to significantly change things up at that position a year from now and take a chance at shoring up a position that has been a weak spot for the past several years.

Buffalo’s work this offseason isn’t done just yet, however.  Even after getting a deal done with Ullmark and Sam Reinhart earlier today, the Sabres still have one more player eligible for salary arbitration in Victor Olofsson whose hearing is scheduled for November 4th.  They have roughly $6MM in space to work with so they’ll have no trouble staying under the salary cap when that deal gets done and there should be enough left to try to add another player on the open market if they so desire.  If not, they’ll enter 2020-21 with a fair bit of cap space to work with.

Arbitration Breakdown: Linus Ullmark

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While the Sabres were able to avoid one looming arbitration hearing earlier today when they re-signed Sam Reinhart, they have one on the horizon with goaltender Linus Ullmark.  If they’re unable to reach an agreement before Monday’s hearing, they’ll be forced to await the ruling of the arbitrator as mid-hearing settlements can’t be reached this time.  Here’s a closer look at his case.

Filings

Team: $1.8MM
Player: $4.1MM
Midpoint: $2.95MM

The Numbers

Ullmark has only been an NHL regular for two years now and both of those were spent in basic platoon situations with veteran Carter Hutton.  Hutton has made 78 starts in that span with Ullmark checking in at 68 but the latter has had the slightly better numbers.  The fact that Ullmark hasn’t been able to stake his claim to a bigger share of the workload certainly doesn’t help his arbitration case as it takes away the ability to use mid-tier starters as comparable contracts.  Further restricting his options is his limited NHL experience overall; while he has played in parts of five straight NHL seasons, he hasn’t yet reached 100 games played.

On the flip side, what will help his cause is that Ullmark did improve his numbers considerably last season from his performance in 2018-19.  His save percentage went up by ten points, his GAA went down by 42 points, and his win percentage of 50% was also an improvement and even stands out on a team that only won 43% of his games.  By no means was this a dominant platform year but Ullmark’s improvement will look favorable in the eyes of an arbitrator and helps when looking through comparable contracts.

2019-20 Stats: 34 GP (34 starts), 17-14-3 record, 2.69 GAA, .915 SV%, 1 SO
Career Stats: 97 GP (92 starts), 41-41-10 record, 2.81 GAA, .911 SV%, 3 SO

Potential Comparables

Comparable contracts are restricted to those signed within restricted free agency which means UFA deals and entry-level pacts are ineligible to be used.  The contracts below fit within those parameters.  Player salaries (or current-year equivalents) also fall within the parameters of the submitted numbers by both sides.

Alexandar Georgiev (Rangers): Let’s look at one signed in recent weeks as a starting point.  While this is a post-ELC deal (Ullmark is three seasons past that point), his numbers this season are relatively comparable to Ullmark’s as are his career totals.  On top of that, he subjectively appears to fall within the same category as Ullmark – a young goalie with some perceived upside but whose overall performance seems to fall just below that of a starting netminder.

Contract (2020): Two years, $2.425MM AAV, 2.98 CH%
Platform Stats: 34 GP (32 starts), 17-14-2 record, 3.04 GAA, .910 SV%, 2 SO
Career Stats: 77 GP (71 starts), 35-31-7 record, 3.00 GAA, .913 SV%, 4 SO

Joonas Korpisalo (Blue Jackets): Korpisalo’s playoff performance skews things a bit more in his favor but the regular season numbers are much closer.  His injury paved the way for Elvis Merzlikins to take a big chunk of playing time for himself and as a result, his 2019-20 numbers are quite similar to Ullmark’s and again, he’s a netminder that has yet to establish himself as a full-fledged starter and it’s worth noting as well that Korpisalo signed this deal in the same spot as Ullmark is, one year from UFA eligibility.

Contract (2020): Two years, $2.8MM AAV, 3.44 CH%
Platform Stats: 37 GP (35 starts), 19-12-5 record, 2.60 GAA, .911 SV%, 2 SO
Career Stats: 127 GP (116 starts), 60-43-14 record, 2.80 GAA, .908 SV%, 3 SO

Michal Neuvirth (Capitals) – Given the narrow window to try to work with (possible future starters with mixed results and around 100 career GP), let’s go back in time a little bit.  There was a time where Washington hoped that Neuvirth could be a starter of the future.  His platform year for this contract came in the lockout-shortened season so some extrapolation is necessary.  This likely represents the high end of what Ullmark could stand to realistically receive.

Contract (2013): Two years, $2.4MM AAV, 3.73 CH%
Current-Year Equivalent: $3.04MM
Platform Stats: 13 GP (12 starts), 4-5-2 record, 2.74 GAA, .910 SV%, 0 SO
Career Stats: 121 GP (105 starts), 55-35-11 record, 2.66 GAA, .909 SV%, 7 SO

David Rittich (Flames) – Let’s now look at someone who had even less of a track record than Ullmark.  When Rittich signed this deal, he had basically two years under his belt, one as a backup and one as the strong-side platoon starter.  His platform numbers are slightly better than Ullmark’s but Ullmark’s longer track record could help offset that.  Like Korpisalo, this is another deal in the one year from UFA category.

Contract (2019): Two years, $2.75MM AAV, 3.37 CH%
Current-Year Equivalent: $2.75MM (since the Upper Limit remains unchanged)
Platform Stats: 45 GP (42 starts), 27-9-5 record, 2.61 GAA, .911 SV%, 1 SO
Career Stats: 67 GP (58 starts), 35-15-8 record, 2.70 GAA, .909 SV%, 1 SO

Projection

Going through the list, it starts to become clear where Ullmark’s realistic settling spot is.  A one-year contract should check in a little higher than Georgiev’s but below that of Rittich’s or Korpisalo’s.  (Ullmark’s camp will likely try to argue Neuvirth but the more recent deals are the better comparables.)  If it goes to a hearing, the arbitrator is limited to a one-year award as Ullmark is only one year away from UFA eligibility.  That one-year award should check in around $2.55MM.  If they settle before the hearing and do a two-year contract to avoid having him and Hutton expire at the same time, the AAV should check in closer to $2.7MM, just below Korpisalo and Rittich.  Either way, it should come in below the midpoint of their two filings.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sabres, Linus Ullmark Exchange Arbitration Figures

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With their scheduled arbitration hearing now 48 hours away, the Sabres and goaltender Linus Ullmark have exchanged their requested awards.  The gap, as usual, is fairly substantial, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Buffalo has submitted a $1.8MM figure and Ullmark’s side has come in at $4.1MM.

Of course, the standard caveat applies that the arbitrator doesn’t have to pick one of the two figures and instead, will almost certainly pick something between the two.  New this year in arbitration cases is that once a hearing begins, it has to go to an award and settlement discussions are no longer permitted at that point.  As Ullmark’s asking price comes in below the walkaway threshold of $4,538,938, that won’t be an option if Buffalo is unhappy with the award.

The 27-year-old is in his final year of RFA eligibility so the submissions could only be for one year.  Statistically speaking, he was considerably better than veteran Carter Hutton but the two basically split the starts last season (34 for Ullmark, 30 for Hutton).  Overall, Ullmark had a relatively strong platform year, posting a 2.69 GAA and a .915 SV% which was a considerable improvement on his numbers in 2018-19 (3.11, .905).

Although he has seen NHL action in five straight seasons, Ullmark doesn’t have a particularly long NHL track record as he has only made 97 career appearances.  That certainly won’t help his case if it goes to a hearing and it may be what Buffalo is banking on with their offer which is on the low end for backup goaltenders.

A one-year deal would put both Ullmark and Hutton on track to reach unrestricted free agency in 2021.  If new GM Kevyn Adams doesn’t want to be faced with the prospect of having no established goalies under contract a year or so from now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a last-ditch effort to get Ullmark signed for a little longer before Monday’s hearing arrives.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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