Ottawa Senators Goalie Linus Ullmark Shares Details About His Injury Situation

On the eve of their season opener, the Ottawa Senators signed star goalie Linus Ullmark to a four-year extension with an average annual value of $8.25 million. When signing a player to a guaranteed contract like that, NHL teams always absorb some risk, knowing there's a chance the player might not live up to the contract. The potential for injury is a significant part of that risk, but the Senators had hoped they could get more than two games into the season before that became a concern.

No such luck.

Ullmark has missed the past two games and is still questionable for Saturday afternoon's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He appeared to get hurt during a 4-1 road loss to the Montreal Canadiens last Saturday, but he isn't sure when it happened.

"It's hard to say," Ullmark told the media on Friday. "Sometimes, you can't really tell exactly what happens at what time. Then you get off and realize that it got worse and worse. That sort of thing, so I can't really explain that it was on this play or that play or if it was something else going on prior. I thought that we handled it very well during the game. It wasn't something that was hindering me at the time, but then it kind of became too much of an issue."

If we're taking a shot at best guesses for when his strain occurred, Ullmark did some serious sprawling and took some contact on Montreal's fourth goal.

The good news is that Ullmark has been skating and practicing, so this doesn't seem like a long-term issue. Ullmark says he feels better every day that goes by and hasn't been ruled out for Saturday.

"We're going to do an evaluation after today, together with the medical team and the coaches, to see what we're going to do going forward – whether that means playing, backing up, or sitting out tomorrow. I don't know yet. I just got off the ice, having a good day with the guys again, which was a lot of fun."

The big thing for Ullmark now is to be smart and not rush things or try to play hurt.

"I think it's a fine line when you're talking about pushing through things and being stupid. It's a very fine line because you don't want to go out there when you're not ready or in a good spot, as you could either make it worse or set yourself back multiple weeks.

"But it's also tough being on the sidelines because you might feel good enough to go out there and play and battle it out. But it also comes down to circumstances. Maybe it's early in the season or late in the season; perhaps you're chasing something or out of it. There are a lot of factors beyond just how I feel."

Ullmark says he wishes he'd been out there the past couple of games, but you never know what can happen if you try to play at less than 100 percent.

"You might be facing a two-on-one, there's a pass over, and all of a sudden you're fully stretched, spread-eagle, and you damage (the injury) in a way that keeps you out for multiple weeks, even months.

Then you're thinking about, 'Why was I so reckless for going out there instead of letting it really heal up and then playing comfortably in multiple games?'"