New Ottawa Senators Goalie Linus Ullmark: "Ottawa Wasn't On My No-Trade List, So There Was Nothing to Waive"

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Linus Ullmark started his time as an Ottawa Senator with a bang, shooting down reports about waiving his no-trade clause to come to Ottawa.

"Ottawa wasn't on my no-trade list, so there was nothing to waive," said Ullmark.

Ullmark exuded confidence, excitement and a winner's mentality throughout his first press conference with the Senators on Wednesday. The 30-year-old Swede was acquired by the Senators on Monday night for the 25th overall draft pick this Friday, along with goalie Joonas Korpisalo and centre Mark Kastelic.

"I'm very excited about what's to come because I see a lot of potential in the Ottawa Senators," said Ullmark.

However, Ullmark stated that he has "not yet" begun contract extension negotiations with the Senators.

"The whole contract situation is something that Steve Staios and my agent will deal with off to the side," said Ullmark. "And I told my agent that once there's something that needs to be discussed, you can always reach me."

Ullmark explained that he spoke to assistant coach Daniel Alfredsson and goalie Anton Forsberg, who he called a "dear friend of mine" long before getting traded to Ottawa.

Ullmark and Forsberg grew up together in Sweden and played for Modo together as young goaltenders. Meanwhile, he spoke to Alfredsson about the city of Ottawa and has spoken to other players, such as Brady Tkachuk, who reached out from Florida amid brother Matthew's Stanley Cup celebrations.

Part of the Ottawa allure for Ullmark is what he's heard about the city of Ottawa and how friendly it would be for him and his family. Ullmark has a wife and two kids.

"The thing that everybody talks about is that Ottawa is a great place to raise a family, and that speaks volumes for me," said Ullmark.

Ullmark was most excited about his role on the Senators as the clear number one goaltender after years of tandemship with Jeremy Swayman.

"It's always something that I've dreamt about, being a clear number one goalie and that I'm playing a lot of games," said Ullmark.

The Hockey News followed by asking about the transition to being a starter. The most games he ever played was 49 in the 2022-23 season when he won the Vezina Trophy. Now, as a starter, he might play north of 60 games.

"A lot of fun and exciting times ahead," said Ullmark. "People complain about me playing fewer games. I haven't played more than 49 games or 50% of the games. I just tell them well, I played more games one year. And when I played more than 50% of the time, it goes to show what happened (winning the Vezina Trophy) at that point.

For Ullmark, winning is the most important thing. And that is what he wants to bring to Ottawa, the winning mentality he had in Boston.

"We're playing to win," said Ullmark. "And that's the most important part. Winning is fun. And losing is a whole lot more boring."

What Ullmark will not be bringing alongside him to Ottawa is his legendary post-win hug celebration with Jeremy Swayman.

"I'm not going to bring it to Ottawa," said Ullmark. "The goalie hug we had in Boston, that's for me and Swayman only, and that's out of respect for what we had and what we built through our years together."

Although Ullmark did keep the possibility open of a fresh celebration with his new partner, Anton Forsberg.

"I'm not gonna say when I come up with something new or anything like that," said Ullmark. "There's always been the celebrations after winning games, so we'll see what happens. Who knows, maybe there'll be a Dab or something."

What's clear is that Ullmark believes that the Senators can do some damage if they find some consistency next season.

"They really showed how dangerous and how good they can be last season," said Ullmark. "And it's all about consistency in my mind. And hopefully, going into this season with a new coaching staff, we can get that ball rolling.

"And once we do that, we're going to be a very dangerous team going forward."