After days (more like weeks) of rumblings linking the Bruins and Senators as ideal trade partners for a Linus Ullmark trade, the sides finally made things officially Monday night, with Ullmark shipped to Ottawa for a three-piece return.

The trade, which required Ullmark to waive his no-trade clause, netted the Bruins a 2024 first-round pick (25th overall, which originally belonged to Boston prior to their 2023 trade for Tyler Bertuzzi), as well as bottom-six forward Mark Kastelic, and in a surprising move, veteran goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

With a first-round pick in their possession, the Bruins are slated to make a first-round selection for the first time since 2021.

The Senators will also retain 25 percent of Korpisalo’s $4 million cap hit, dropping his cap hit down to $3 million per year for the next four seasons.

By essentially swapping Ullmark for Korpisalo, the Bruins will gain $2 million in cap space, but take on the contract of one of the worst goaltenders in all of hockey a year ago. In fact, among a group of 20 goaltenders with at least 50 appearances a season ago, Korpisalo’s .890 save percentage and 3.27 goals against average ranked dead last.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Bruins do something with the 30-year-old Korpisalo, be it a trade somewhere else (like what they did with Martin Jones back in 2015) or a potential buyout, but his inclusion in this deal is one that has undoubtedly soured what was an otherwise solid return from the Black and Gold’s point of view.

Perhaps the Bruins think that goaltending coach Bob Essensa can ‘fix’ Korpisalo and get him closer to what he was for the Kings during their 2023 run to the playoffs, but that’s the kind of gamble that feels like a weird one for the Bruins to make given their needs and their publicly-stated desire to be ‘aggressive’ when it comes to adding talent this offseason.

It also creates a potential logjam when it comes to Boston’s backup goalie gig, with Korpisalo (for now) ahead of Brandon Bussi and Michael DiPietro on the proverbial depth chart. Both Bussi, who was signed to a $775,000 two-way contract for 2024-25 on Monday, and DiPietro are waiver-eligible this fall, meaning that they will either make the Bruins out of camp or be exposed to the rest of the league for free via the league’s waiver wire.

Ullmark, who waived his no-trade clause to facilitate the trade to Ottawa, meanwhile, departs Boston with an 88-26-10 record and .924 save percentage in 130 games with the Bruins.

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