Linus Ullmark

Linus Ullmark grew up in Lugnvik, Sweden — a community he described on episode 83 of the InGoal Radio podcast as home to fewer than 300 people, a place where the local rink was never locked and where he and his older brother spent hours on the ice regardless of whether practice was scheduled ^[1]. He played forward and defense alongside goaltending until he was 15, when he committed fully to the position. Patrick Roy and Dominic Hasek were early influences, the latter in part because, as Ullmark recalled on the podcast, they shared the same style of helmet ^[1].

Buffalo selected Ullmark in the sixth round, 163rd overall, of the 2012 NHL Draft. His path through the Swedish system included a formative period at Modo, where he worked with goaltending coach Ian Clark — a figure Ullmark credited on the podcast with opening up a "whole new world" of technical detail around skate positioning, knee positioning, and hand placement that shaped his development ^[1]. He made his NHL debut with the Sabres in 2015-16, appearing in 20 games and posting a 2.60 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.

His early years in Buffalo were incremental. After that debut season, he played just one game in 2016-17 and five in 2017-18 — the latter producing a 2.00 GAA and .935 save percentage across those appearances — before becoming a more regular presence. In 2018-19, he started 37 games, going 15-14 with a 3.11 GAA and .905 save percentage. The following season, 2019-20, he appeared in 34 games, finishing 17-14 with a 2.69 GAA and .915 save percentage. The shortened 2020-21 campaign brought 20 appearances, a 9-6 record, a 2.63 GAA, and a .917 save percentage.

The 2020 offseason found Ullmark back in Sweden, rehabbing a knee injury and watching the NHL's bubble playoffs from afar. He discussed the challenge of staying motivated through that extended break — starting training ten weeks earlier than usual and working out nearly every weekday — in his episode 83 interview with Kevin Woodley on InGoal Radio ^[1].

After the 2020-21 season, Ullmark signed with the Boston Bruins. In his first year in Boston, 2021-22, he went 26-10 with a 2.45 GAA and .917 save percentage in 41 games. That set the stage for what became his defining season.

In 2022-23, Ullmark went 40-6 with a 1.89 GAA and .938 save percentage in 49 games — leading the NHL in all three of those categories. He also became the 13th goaltender in NHL history to score a goal, putting a puck into an empty net. That February, InGoal Magazine spent time with Ullmark and Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa at a session in Vancouver, producing a Pro Drills breakdown of a down-low patience drill ^[2]. The Pro Reads that followed — the first of eight video breakdowns with Ullmark — debuted the same week. In that first entry, he explained his process on a partial breakaway against Jordan Eberle, including how he reads stick position, shooter speed, and defensive backcheck pressure before the play reaches the blue line ^[3].

A second Pro Reads entry followed quickly, with Ullmark detailing his approach to a Brayden Point breakaway — from identifying carry position as a deke tell to his preference for avoiding paddle-down because of the recovery challenges it creates ^[4]. A third breakdown, tied to a piece on his adoption of "recoil" — a philosophy of purposeful backwards flow even on in-zone play — showed how he applied that concept against the New York Islanders, explaining his decision to stay on his feet through a broken play and build back up to coverage rather than commit to the ice ^[5]. The full "recoil" article featured Ullmark and Essensa explaining the concept together, with Jeremy Swayman also contributing.

InGoal named Ullmark its pick for the Vezina Trophy ahead of the 2023 NHL Awards, and he won both the Vezina and the William M. Jennings Trophy — the latter shared with Swayman. A fourth Pro Reads breakdown, released in April 2023, walked through his reads on a Carolina Hurricanes power play sequence, including how he handled Sebastian Aho on the back side by staying patient on the initial pass rather than pushing out aggressively ^[6]. A fifth entry addressed a solo rush by Robert Thomas, with Ullmark explaining his rotation off the inside leg once he saw Thomas extend his stick in front of him ^[7]. A sixth covered how he tracked an Adam Fox in-zone play against the New York Rangers, prioritizing a middle-net tip threat over the defenseman as the primary danger and using visual attachment to the puck to time a lateral release ^[8].

After a 40-win season, Ullmark appeared in 40 games in 2023-24 with a 22-10 record, a 2.57 GAA, and a .915 save percentage. That July, a seventh Pro Reads entry broke down a 2-on-0 rush against the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Ullmark describing how he identified the likelihood of the odd-man situation developing as early as when the puck crossed the blue line, and explaining why a pass that stayed away from the far side made his reads simpler ^[9]. In October 2023, an eighth Pro Reads entry — featuring a power play sequence against the Columbus Blue Jackets — showed Ullmark navigating a low-high pass with Patrik Laine in a one-timer position, explaining the angle-first principle he traces back to his time with Clark at Modo: "If you don't have any angle, it doesn't matter how far out you are, it's going to be an open net" ^[10].

Ullmark was traded to the Ottawa Senators ahead of the 2024-25 season. In his first year in Ottawa he went 25-14 with a 2.72 GAA and .910 save percentage in 44 games, adding four shutouts. Through 49 games of 2025-26, he carries a 28-12 record with a 2.73 GAA, .891 save percentage, and three shutouts.

Across 340 NHL regular-season games, Ullmark has accumulated 191 wins, 15 shutouts, a 2.57 career GAA, and a .914 career save percentage.

InGoal Magazine has covered Linus Ullmark in one podcast appearance, eight Pro Reads, and one drill breakdown. The full depth of those breakdowns — including his explanations of recoil, angle management, breakaway reads, and post-coverage patience — is available to InGoal members.