The Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins briefly upstaged the riveting conclusion to the Stanley Cup Final with the announcement that Linus Ullmark was changing teams.

The Senators acquired the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner on Monday night in exchange for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, fourth-line center Mark Kastelic, and this year's No. 25 draft pick, which the Bruins originally owned. Ottawa retains 25% of Korpisalo's $4-million cap hit over the next four seasons.

Here's what the trade means for both sides.

Senators

The defensemen in front of them were prone to slipups last season, but Korpisalo and goalie partner Anton Forsberg sapped Ottawa's confidence.

Senators netminders let in the opponent's first or second shot in 22 games. Korpisalo's deflating .890 save percentage condemned the team to a seventh straight missed postseason and 26th-place finish.

The Ullmark trade is doubly satisfying for Steve Staios, Ottawa's rookie GM. He adds a legitimate starter with a .918 career denial rate who ranked fifth in the NHL over the past five seasons in goals saved above expected, per Evolving-Hockey. In the process, Staios undid one of predecessor Pierre Dorion's glaring, expensive mistakes.

A Korpisalo buyout would've cost the Senators $10.7 million through 2032, per CapFriendly. They're paying less dead money over a shorter span, now get to ice an accomplished goalie, and still possess the No. 7 pick in Friday's draft.

The cool and collected Ullmark, who's never made 50 starts in a season, won't necessarily dominate in the Canadian capital. Ottawa's reputation as a goalie graveyard preceded Korpisalo's cursed stint. Staios also hasn't extended Ullmark, who's on track to reach free agency next summer, though contract talks could heat up this week.

Staios didn't need to swap Jakob Chychrun, Erik Brannstrom, or another decent player to land his desired goalie. More moves will follow as he attempts to reshape and upgrade the Ottawa defense corps.

Grade: A- (could be A if Ullmark extends)

Bruins

The No. 25 pick comes late in the first round, Kastelic is a physical but pedestrian depth center, and Korpisalo's lighter cap charge will still sting if he performs like he did in Ottawa.

Despite the meager return, the trade contains silver linings for the Bruins, notably that they'll get to draft in Round 1 for just the second time in five years. Renting Tyler Bertuzzi for one playoff round in 2023 cost Boston this selection before the Detroit Red Wings flipped it to Ottawa for Alex DeBrincat.

Moving Ullmark creates current and future cap space for Boston and signals belief, faint as it may be, that Korpisalo can be better. The strength of the Bruins' defensive structure helped Jeremy Swayman, the new undisputed starter, record a .950 save percentage in the series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Head coach Jim Montgomery can shelter Korpisalo, a luxury Ottawa didn't enjoy, and deploy him strategically against worse teams.

Market forces weakened Boston's bargaining power. Potential Ullmark suitors disappeared when the New Jersey Devils traded for Jacob Markstrom, a proven workhorse, and the Los Angeles Kings picked up veteran stopgap Darcy Kuemper. Bruins GM Don Sweeney recouped a draft asset but wound up with the shakiest goalie of the bunch.

Grade: C-

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.

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Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was understandably succinct in summing up his feelings after falling short in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

"It sucks, yeah," he said.

The Oilers admirably rallied from a 3-0 series deficit against the Florida Panthers, but the Cardiac Cats held on with a 2-1 victory Monday night to secure their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

"You knew it was gonna be tight, you know, Game 7 for the Cup. ... It's tough. They did a good job of shutting things down," McDavid said. "We had our looks, just didn't find it."

McDavid technically didn't go home empty-handed as he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason, but it wasn't the hardware he wanted.

"I guess an honor with the names on that trophy, but," the superstar said, trailing off.

McDavid is now the sixth player in NHL history to hold the mantle of playoff MVP as a member of the losing side. He didn't return to the ice to accept the trophy.

"I don't think he cares (about winning the Conn Smythe)," Leon Draisaitl said. "It speaks to how amazing of a hockey player he is. But no player in the world that wants to win a Stanley Cup more than him. He does everything right every single day just to win it one day. It's really hard, especially him being sad, being disappointed at the end."

"He's the greatest player to ever play in my books," he continued. "So many things that a lot of people don't see that he does. His work ethic, he singlehandedly turned our franchise around pretty much. Just love sharing the ice with him. He's a really really special person."

Despite the sting of defeat, McDavid said he was "proud" of the resiliency his team showed all year.

Edmonton was tied for last place in the league in November before a coaching change helped the team climb its way out of the basement and into the Stanley Cup Final.

"We were behind the eight ball almost immediately," McDavid said with a chuckle. "We fought an uphill climb for months and months and months. It just sucks."

He added: "We were right there. Right there."

Draisaitl, meanwhile, said he hopes his team can take something positive from the disappointing loss.

"I think for the most part, it's just learning lessons, right?" he said. "We've done that over the last couple of years very well and implemented those lessons. But it's tough to drag a lesson out of this one when you're really one shot or two shots away from accomplishing everything."

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.