The Buffalo Sabres have re-signed goaltender Linus Ullmark to a one-year contract. The new deal comes it at a $1.325 million cap hit.
We have agreed to terms with goaltender Linus Ullmark on a one-year contract with an average annual value of $1.325 million. pic.twitter.com/Xo3VriUX7x
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) August 3, 2019
Linus Ullmark Staying in Buffalo
Ullmark has spent his entire three-year career with the Sabres. He has put up a 24-27-7 career record in 63 career appearances with 58 career starts. He also has a 2.87 goals-against-average, .910 save percentage, and two shutouts.
Last season, Ullmark played in 37 games with 34 starts for the Sabres. He put up a 15-14-5 record with a 3.11 goals-against-average and .905 save percentage and two shutouts. It was his first year of over 20 games played. He’s spent most of the last few seasons in the AHL, with the Rochester Americans. During the 2017-18 season, he played in 44 games with Rochester. In that span, he tallied an impressive .922 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.44. His solid save percentage ranked among the top ten in the league, tied with Reto Berra and Ville Husso for sixth.
What This Means for the Future
In Ullmark’s first full year with the Sabres, he served as the back-up to Carter Hutton. Goaltending has been an issue for the Sabres over the past few seasons including last season where both goalies had a goal-against-average of at least three. Ullmark showed some potential by putting up a winning record with the Sabres last season but will continue to serve as the back-up next season.
While he will still carry the backup title, Ullmark does hold quite a bit of responsibility with the Sabres. They’ll look towards the 26-year-old goaltender to remain steady in net as the team in front of him gets slowly improved. Jason Botterill, Sabres general manager, has already taken strides to improve the Sabres defence. The addition of players like Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju could work wonders for the team. At the very least, it’d be no surprise to see the additions on defence help bolster Ullmark’s stat-line next year.
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