Linus Ullmark Injury: Senators' Starter Hurt, Ex-Leaf Ersson Steps In

Linus Ullmark injury: what happened in Ottawa

The Linus Ullmark injury is the first real crack in the Ottawa Senators' strong start. The Senators goaltender left Ottawa's 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Oct. 21 at 3:25 of the third period with a lower-body injury, after going down into his butterfly on a long-range shot and pushing across to his left. He had to be helped off the ice. Head coach Travis Green called it a lower-body strain after the game and said Ullmark would be evaluated on Thursday, Oct. 22. He could not say how serious it was.

Samuel Ersson, the goalie the Maple Leafs traded to Ottawa in June, finished the game. Ullmark had stopped 16 of 17 shots before leaving, and the only goal against him was scored by Brady Tkachuk on his first game back in Ottawa.

For Leafs fans, this is an Atlantic Division story with a Toronto thread running through it. Ottawa is ahead of the Leafs in the standings, its starter is now a question mark, and the man behind him is a goalie Toronto chose not to keep.

The Brady Tkachuk game around it

The injury came in the most emotional regular-season game Ottawa has played in years. It was Tkachuk's first game in Ottawa since the Senators traded their former captain to Florida on June 21 for a package of picks. Fans booed him through the night, and some threw Tkachuk jerseys onto the ice.

Tkachuk scored anyway, on Florida's first shot of the game, a power-play goal at 10:00 of the first period. It was the Panthers' only goal. Ottawa answered with five: Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto and Warren Foegele scored, and Tim Stützle and Stephen Halliday each had a goal and an assist.

The result moved Ottawa to 7-3-0 and dropped Florida to 5-3-2, ending a three-game Panthers winning streak. Toronto, at 5-4-2 after wins over San Jose and Columbus this week, is level with Florida on 12 points and two behind the Senators. We previewed how Ottawa would look without Tkachuk in our September breakdown of the post-Tkachuk Senators. So far they have been better than expected, and Ullmark is a big reason why.

Why Ullmark matters so much to Ottawa

Ullmark leads the NHL in wins and ranks second in the league in both save percentage (.945) and goals-against average (1.33), according to reports after the game. He has been the single biggest reason Ottawa is 7-3-0. Toronto has already seen the best of him: in the season opener on Oct. 3, he made 27 saves in a 3-2 win over the Leafs. Our recap of that night, when six posts sank the Leafs, was as much about Ullmark as about Toronto's finishing.

He is also expensive and in his prime earning years. Here is his deal:

There is a durability flag, too. This is the second time this month Ullmark has been unable to finish a start; he also left early against Boston on Oct. 5. One early outside read of the video suggested a groin strain. That is guesswork, not a diagnosis, but the range on a goalie's lower-body strain runs from day-to-day to several weeks.

Samuel Ersson, the goalie Toronto passed through

If Ullmark misses time, the net belongs, for now, to a goalie who was Maple Leafs property for 10 days. Toronto acquired Ersson from Philadelphia on June 16 as part of the Joseph Woll trade, then sent his rights to Ottawa on June 26 for a 2027 fifth-round pick rather than give him a qualifying offer. We covered that move in our piece on the Ersson trade, and the pick still sits on the Leafs draft-pick tracker.

The numbers explain why Toronto let him go. Ersson went 14-11-5 with an .870 save percentage in 33 games for the Flyers last season. In limited work for Ottawa this season, he entered Wednesday with a save percentage in the low .800s across three appearances. If Ullmark is out for any length of time, Ottawa will likely recall Jonas Johansson from AHL Belleville to back up or share the crease.

It is one of the quieter decisions of John Chayka's summer, and it is looking sound. Toronto picked Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz as its tandem, kept Artur Akhtyamov in the system, and turned a goalie it did not want into a pick.

What it means for the Leafs and the Atlantic

An extended Ullmark absence would be good news for Toronto in the standings and nothing more. Ottawa is two points ahead of Toronto, and every point the Senators drop is one the Leafs do not have to make up themselves. A Senators team playing Ersson or Johansson for a month is a team that will drop points, and the Atlantic is tight enough that a few of them matter.

The size of the drop-off is the key. Ottawa's results with Ullmark in net have been excellent, and Ersson's early numbers suggest the cushion behind him is thin. That is the profile of a team leaning hard on one player, which is exactly what the Leafs were accused of with their old goaltending setups. Depth in the crease is not glamorous, but it is what keeps a team from losing a month to one injury.

It also adds to a crowded injury list across the division. Florida is still without Aleksander Barkov, who was given a six-to-eight-week timeline on Oct. 6. Toronto is playing without John Tavares and Chris Tanev, and Jake McCabe is questionable after a high stick on Oct. 20. The division's healthiest teams over the next month will have an edge that may still show up in April.

The Stolarz question

There is one more Toronto angle. The New York Rangers reportedly kicked the tires on Anthony Stolarz after losing Igor Shesterkin for the season, and LeafsLurker argued in our Stolarz trade piece that Toronto should say no. If Ullmark's injury turns out to be long-term, Ottawa could become another team calling about goalies.

Our position is simple. Stolarz carries a $3.75 million cap hit through 2029-30, per our Maple Leafs contracts page, and he is half of a tandem built for an 84-game season. Trading him to anyone weakens the Leafs. Trading him to a division rival that is two points ahead of Toronto would be worse. Chayka should not take that call.

What's next

The Senators were set to evaluate Ullmark on Thursday, and the answer will shape Ottawa's next month. Watch for three things:

• The diagnosis. A day-to-day strain means Ullmark could be back within a week. Injured reserve or a multi-week timeline changes Ottawa's season.
• A goalie recall. If Johansson comes up from Belleville, that is a sign the Senators expect Ullmark to miss more than a game or two.
• The trade market. Goalies are already scarce, with Shesterkin out for the season and Connor Hellebuyck's Winnipeg standoff still unresolved. Another injured starter only tightens it.

For Toronto, the takeaway is plain. The Leafs cannot control Ottawa's crease. They can bank the points while the Senators sort it out, starting with the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night. Keep up with the race on the NHL standings page.