Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Getting a chance to talk to Linus Ullmark maybe for the last time with the Buffalo Sabres showed that he grew both on and off the ice this season.
If general manager Kevyn Adams and Ullmark can’t come to an agreement before July 28, Ullmark will become an unrestricted free agent.
This season, the 27-year-old goalie missed quite a few games with multiple injuries. He ended the season 9-6-3 with a 2.63 goals-against average and a career-best .917 save percentage. This was the season that Ullmark proved that he was a No. 1 goalie in the NHL.
Ullmark said his pending free agency is not even on his radar.
“Right now that is not my concern," he said during his end-of-season conference call on Monday. "For me, and it’s been like this the whole season, I’m just taking one foot in front of the other and just pound away day-after-day-after-day.
“Right now I’m looking forward to going home and meet up with my family, enjoy my time with them. After that, we’ll sit down, me, my agent and the team, and start discussing what we want to do with the future.”
The Sabres and the Buffalo Bills have a very good sports science department. Injuries, of course, are partially bad luck, but there are some things that sports science can do that can maybe help Ullmark reduce them.
“There’s certain things that you can control and there’s other things that you can’t control," Ullmark said. "I’ve always felt that I’ve done the right things off the ice to prepare myself for what to expect on the ice, and there’s a lot of circumstances surrounding it that might have increased the chance of me getting injured.
“We can’t know for sure what caused it, and I came in this year in probably the best shape of my life. I know it’s not because I was out of shape, as it could be other times, so going forward I’m just going to evaluate what happened and what muscles I did injure, take care of them and try to be more consistent with the work that I put in.”
Ullmark came to North America back in the 2015-16 season to play with the Sabres organization after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Draft. He said he has liked his journey in this organization.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here," Ullmark said. "It hasn’t mattered which coach I’ve had, they all brought good things into my life and my game. I thought Don [Granato] did a great job of being very consistent in what he expected out of us, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for the franchise.”
Listening to Ullmark, it just doesn’t sound that he is 100% leaving Buffalo. It sounds, to me, like the door has been left open.
“I got drafted in 2012 and it’s been a lot of years since. It’s been my only NHL team, so I wish the best for this organization. If I’m a part of it, it’s great. I couldn’t be more happier than that. But who the coach is isn’t going to be on the tipping scale when I make my decision.”
In his career in this organization, Ullmark has played 117 games with Buffalo and 130 games, including playoffs, with the Rochester Americans.
When I speak about Ullmark’s growth off the ice, it really came into focus when his father passed away in Sweden back in January. Ullmark spent this season in Buffalo by himself, as the rest of his family stayed in Sweden. Ullmark missed a few games, but more importantly, he was left to grieve on his own.
“I’m very thankful for the whole organization all the way up from Kevyn [Adams] down to the team," Ullmark said. "First of all, they let me be me through it all. They always showed their support, so I can’t thank them enough for that.”
That wasn’t the only thing important to Ullmark. He said taking care of his mental health was hugely important.
“I talked, I talked and I talked to different [people] that I feel the closest to, not just my wife back home or my mom," Ullmark said. "If I didn’t talk to people and really make them understand how I felt during the day, that would have probably led to my doom, and that’s something I’ve realized and understood as of late of how important it is not to keep those feelings and thoughts to myself.”
It wasn’t just teammates Ullmark was leaning on. It was also his goaltending coach, Mike Bales.
“I’ve had good conversations during the season with Mike Bales about it, and I was always completely honest," Ullmark said. "He would ask me how I felt and I said, 'I’m s***,' and that’s just how it is. Some days were absolute misery, but if I didn’t have the courage to say that, he wouldn’t have been able to know and we wouldn’t have been able to deal with it.”
I know the last few quotes are long, but I just think talking about these issues and making them known to try to help others is so important.
Ullmark has never really been the backup goalie in Buffalo. He’s spent the last three seasons sharing the net with Carter Hutton. He said he needed to show himself that he could do it at this level, and the strength came from a place that you might not guess.
“I think that came from me being a father," Ullmark explained. "Before we had Harry, there were some doubts in my mind. I always knew I was a good goaltender, but it was always, ‘Am I good enough?’ When he came around and there’s another perspective to live that isn’t hockey, you stop questioning yourself because you realize that hockey is not everything. Your family is everything, and if you have a bad game, he’s not going to be grumpy at me if I let in five goals. He’s just going to see me as Daddy, and that really helped me develop my mental game.”
Adams mentioned after the trade deadline that re-signing Ullmark is a priority for him.
In case you missed Ullmark's end-of-season conference call, you can listen to it in its entirety below:
