The Boston Bruins were very active on the first day of NHL free agency on Wednesday.
The Bruins added an experienced goaltender to pair with former UMaine player Jeremy Swayman. SportsNet Canada reported Boston is signing Buffalo Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark.
According to The Athletic, the deal is for four years, $5 million average annual value.
Ullmark was a bright spot for a bad Buffalo team (15-34-7) with a 9-6-3 record and a .917 save percentage. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said on Saturday that the Sabres bringing the 27-year-old back was a priority.
“We’ve made it very clear to (Ullmark’s agent) that we would like to see Linus as our No. 1 goalie.”
Ullmark adds a capable body to the Bruins’ goaltending mix, but there are plenty of questions remaining: Are the Bruins still interested in bringing back Tuukka Rask after he recovers from surgery? It seems unlikely Ullmark would have signed if that was still likely given that he had other options.
The Bruins started the day started the day signing defenseman Derek Forbort before adding three forwards – Tomas Nosek, Erik Haula and Mike Foligno.
The Bruins also traded goalie Dan Vladar to the Calgary Flames for a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft.
STARS: Ryan Suter became the first player to sign a new contract when NHL free agency began, joining the Dallas Stars on a $14.6 million, four-year deal.
Suter will count $3.65 million against the salary cap. Dallas also signed 2016 Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Braden Holtby for $2 million for next season after he was bought out by Vancouver. Suter, a 36-year-old U.S.-born defenseman, was recently bought out by the Minnesota Wild.
Dallas also Wednesday signed forward Luke Glendening to a $3 million, two-year contract after he had played all eight of his previous NHL seasons with Detroit. A pair of defensemen, Alexander Petrovic and Andreas Borgman, signed one-year, two-way contracts.
DEVILS: New Jersey signed unrestricted free-agent goaltender Jonathan Bernier to a two-year, $8.25 million contract.
General Manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the signing Wednesday, noting the 32-year-old will make $3.6 million this coming season and $4.65 million in 2022-23.
Bernier spent the past three seasons with Detroit, playing in 105 contests. He posted a 9-11-1 record in 24 games with a 2.99 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. He faced an average 34.8 shots last season, which led the NHL. His rights were previously acquired last week by Carolina from Detroit with a third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft for goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Since he was an unrestricted free agent, Bernier was free to sign with any team.
FLAMES: Back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Blake Coleman was among the other top free agents to sign Wednesday. The gritty forward got $29.4 million over six years from the Flames. Calgary also gave up a a 2022 third-round pick in a trade for Chicago defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Vegas re-signed defenseman Alec Martinez for $15.75 million over three years, and acquired forward Evgenii Dadonov from Ottawa for defenseman Nick Holden and 2022 third-rounder.
OILERS: Forward Zach Hyman signed a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with Edmonton, who also traded Ethan Bear to Carolina for Warren Foegele.
SENATORS: The Ottawa Senators signed head coach D.J. Smith to a two-year extension.
The deal will keep the 44-year-old Smith behind the bench through the 2023-24 season. The team also holds an option for the following year.
Smith, a former assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, was hired by the Senators in May 2019. He has a 48-62-17 record over his first two seasons at the helm. Ottawa finished ahead of only Vancouver in the seven-team, all-Canadian North Division last season.
KRAKEN: There was a method to the Seattle Kraken’s approach to preserve salary cap space while making their expansion draft selections.
Two weeks later, the Kraken made one of the biggest splashes in free agency by signing goalie Philipp Grubauer to a six-year $35.4 million contract. Seattle’s roster is suddenly beginning to take form with the addition of one of the top players on the market.
The 29-year-old Grubauer, who finished second in the NHL with 30 wins and third in the Vezina Trophy voting following his third season in Colorado, represents a significant upgrade over the three goalies the Kraken plucked off 30 teams’ rosters.
His signing also dealt a blow to the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche, who had difficulty squeezing him under their salary cap after re-signing captain Gabriel Landeskog a day earlier.
“He was the backbone of our team and a huge part of our success this past season,” Landeskog said after signing an eight-year, $56 million extension. “But at the end of the day I’m not going to tell Grubi what to do just like he didn’t try to tell me what to do.”
CANADIENS: Former Tampa Bay defenseman David Savard signed a four-year, $14 million contract with Montreal – the team the Lightning defeated in the Stanley Cup final three weeks ago.
Savard immediately steps in to fill the hole left on the Canadiens’ blue line with captain Shea Weber’s career uncertain due to a series of injuries.
LIGHTNING: Tampa Bay did shore up its long-term future by extending No. 1 center Brayden Point eight years through 2030 for $76 million. The Lightning made a handful of other moves, including bringing back 2020 Cup-winning defenseman Zach Bogosian on a three-year deal, forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to a $2 million, two-year contract and adding Brian Elliott as a new backup goalie.
KINGS: The Canadiens lost defensive-checking center Phillip Danault to free agency after he signed a six-year, $33 million deal with the Los Angeles Kings.
RANGERS: New York added defenseman Patrik Nemeth. New Rangers President and GM Chris Drury continued to make New York bigger and tougher by signing defensemen Nemeth for three years and Jarred Tinordi for two. Nemeth is 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds, and Tinordi is 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds.
HURRICANES: The Carolina Hurricanes addressed their goaltending needs by signing former Maple Leafs starter Frederik Andersen to a two-year, $9 million contract, the player’s agent Claude Lemieux said.
Carolina also signed defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a $1 million, one-year contract Wednesday.
DeAngelo was sent home by the New York Rangers last season following an undisclosed incident, went unclaimed by the rest of the league on waivers and had the final season of his contract bought out.
Carolina is taking a chance on a 2014 first-round pick who’s only one year removed from posting 53 points in 68 games. DeAngelo has 24 goals and 82 assists in 206 career games with New York and Arizona.
DUCKS: Ryan Getzlaf has agreed to terms on a one-year contract to remain with the Anaheim Ducks.
The deal should allow the 36-year-old Getzlaf to become the franchise’s career leader in points this season. He has 982 points in 1,101 games and needs seven to pass Teemu Selanne’s 988.
Getzlaf has been a constant for the Ducks since he was drafted 19th overall in 2003. He made his NHL debut in 2005 and emerged the following season in helping Anaheim win the Stanley Cup, leading the team with 17 points in the postseason. Getzlaf set career highs with 31 goals and 87 points in 2013-14.
WILD: Entering his 15th season in the NHL, Alex Goligoski found his first experience as a free agent to be more stressful than he expected or preferred.
The landing spot made it worth the hassle. The left-shot defenseman agreed to terms on a one-year, $5 million contract with the Minnesota Wild, his home state team.
his season, Goligoski will become the 28th native of Minnesota to play in a game for the Wild.
The Wild also agreed to terms with center Frederick Gaudreau to a two-year, $2.4 million contract. Gaudreau spent last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
GOALTENDERS: Jonathan Bernier, who was dealt by Detroit to Carolina for Alex Nedeljkovic, was allowed to become a free agent and signed a two-year, $8.25 million contact with New Jersey.
Among other goalie moves, Toronto signed Petr Mrazek, Philadelphia added Martin Jones fresh off his buyout from San Jose, the Sharks signed James Reimer and the Canucks brought in Jaroslav Halak.
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