All the pressure is on Swayman to shine for Bruins after Ullmark trade

The net is Swayman’s, but with that comes more pressure and expectations.

There’s no debate anymore: The Boston Bruins’ net belongs to Jeremy Swayman.

The Bruins traded his goalie partner and 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner, Linus Ullmark, to the Ottawa Senators on Monday for netminder Joonas Korpisalo, center Mark Kastelic and a 2024 first-round draft pick (25th overall).

This trade clears the way for Swayman to be the undisputed No. 1 goalie in Boston for the long term. And while that’s great for Swayman, it does come with added responsibility and pressure.

One of the reasons why the Bruins were in the mix for the Presidents’ Trophy until the final week of the 2023-24 regular season was because of their goaltending.

The Bruins did not defend very well this past season. They ranked 18th in shots allowed, 17th in scoring chances allowed and 21st in high-danger chances allowed at 5-on-5 last season, per Natural Stat Trick. The B’s survived in large part because Swayman and Ullmark posted a combined .929 5-on-5 save percentage, which was third-best in the NHL. The goaltending bailed out the Bruins in a lot of games.

It was such a luxury for the Bruins to be able to roll out a Vezina-caliber goalie every night, and it was one that almost no other team had. That luxury is now gone as a result of the Ullmark trade.