Linus Ullmark showed up to Ottawa Senators camp looking and sounding like a different goalie than the one who went through last season’s grind.
On Friday, the 33-year-old met the media for the first time since 2026 camp opened, and the mood was noticeably lighter. He smiled, laughed, and even cracked a joke about how he was feeling.
“It was even more awful … No, it wasn’t,” he added with a laugh.
Ullmark also had a new look in net, sporting red pads and gloves to match the Senators’ red jersey. More importantly, he seemed in a much better place than he was a year ago as he heads into his third full season with Ottawa.
Last season was a difficult one from start to finish. Ullmark opened the year poorly, stepped away for 35 days on a mental health leave, then came back and helped push the Senators into the playoffs. He was also their best player in the first round against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Ottawa was swept, but Ullmark gave the club a chance every night. He finished the four-game series with a .932 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average, a strong finish that left him feeling good heading into the summer.
This offseason, the organization also changed its approach around goaltending after dealing with issues at the position throughout the system. Steve Staios, Ottawa’s president of hockey operations and general manager, brought in Maciej Szwoch as co-ordinator of goaltending scouting and development.
Szwoch, 41, worked with Ullmark during his mental health leave and is considered both a close friend and a mentor to him. He did not replace goaltending coach Justin Peters, but he will work alongside Peters at both the NHL and AHL levels. The two also played a key role in bringing Samuel Ersson over from the Philadelphia Flyers to back up Ullmark.
“He was there when I started my career, over 15 years ago. We shared a lot of good, happy memories. Also some less happy memories,” Ullmark said.
“And so it’s fun. He has certainly earned his role here with the team, I’m really glad for his sake, and it’s going to be interesting to see what he can bring to the organization going forward.”
Szwoch spent four days with Ullmark at his home in Sweden in September before Ullmark returned to Ottawa. They worked on the areas Ullmark wanted to sharpen before what shapes up as a pivotal season.
Last year, Peters traveled from North America to spend time with Ullmark, but this time the setup was different.
“It was a good kind of middle ground for Maciej to come up and work on some things that me, him and (Peters) have talked about,” Ullmark said.
The Senators’ goaltending picture now also includes Ersson, and the expectation is clear: Ottawa will only go as far as Ullmark and Ersson can carry it.
Ullmark has never played more than 50 games in a season, and with the schedule now stretched to 84 games, Ersson is expected to handle 30-35 appearances.
The 26-year-old Swede also crossed paths with Ullmark at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025. He’s trying to get his own career back on track after signing a two-year deal with Ottawa worth an average annual value of $2.2 million.
Ullmark said Ersson made a strong first impression.
“He made a good impression on me,” Ullmark said. “Once everything was said and done, and he was going to be a part of this organization, I was very happy.
“It’s always fun to have a fellow Swede join the ranks, but also for me, as a Swedish goaltender, it’s nice to have that conversation with him on a daily basis.”
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