It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
It's Linus Olmark Day and I'm reviewing his unbelievable regular season, a rocky post
season, and what can be next for the Boston Bruins number 1A goaltender here on today's
episode of Lockdown Boston Bruins.
What is up Bruins fans and welcome back to the Lockdown Boston Bruins Podcast.
I'm your host Ian McLaren and this is a daily show where we discuss all things spoke to
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Now I know I had said that I was going to be talking about Charlie McAvoy on the podcast
today but we're pivoting to Linus Olmark because he was named a finalist for the Vezna
Trophy on Thursday evening so I thought what better day to do the Linus Olmark year in
review.
Before we get into that quick reminder you can find the podcast on Twitter and Instagram
at lockednhlbrewins and you can find me my dad jokes hockey tweets at e and c mclaren.
And yes indeed, Linus Olmark has been named a finalist for the 2023 Vezna Trophy given
annually to the goaltender a judged to be the best at his position as voted on by the general
managers of all NHL clubs.
So this one's not going down to the professional hockey writers association or the broadcasters
voted directly by the general managers and Olmark will be going up against Connor Hellabook
of the Winnipeg Jets and Iliya Sorokin of the New York Islanders for this award.
It's the first time in his career that he has been named a finalist and for good reason.
Not for good reason that he hadn't been nominated before but the fact that he is a finalist
this season is obviously well deserved.
49 appearances, 46 and one record, a 1.89 goals against average, 938 save percentage, two
shutouts, he led the NHL in wins, goals against average and save percentage.
Now these are more traditional stats and a lot of people more evaluate high danger chances
and goals above expected but still to be the triple crown winner in all three of these
categories should set Olmark apart especially since the general managers are voting.
He allowed two or fewer goals and 36 of his 49 appearances, that's in 73.5% of his appearances.
He became the fastest goalie in NHL history to reach 40 wins.
He is the 13th goalie in league history, first in franchise history to score a goal and he
also recorded a career high in franchise record 54 saves in a 4-3 overtime win against the
Calgary Flames, he has already won some hardware, splitting the William M Jennings Trophy with
Jeremy Swamin that's presented to the goalies who play a minimum of 25 games for their team
and allow the fewest goals during the regular season.
But with a win Olmark would become the 4th goalie in Bruins history to take home the
Vessna Trophy, Tookarask did it in 2014, Tim Thomas won in 2011 and 2009 and Pete Peters
won the award back in 1983.
It is a well deserved honor for Linus Olmark and again the fact that he won all three of
those categories are finished first in all three of those categories should be enough
to get him the award.
Yes, Connor Hellebuk, Ilya Sorokin are worthy opponents and you can make a case for either
of those guys in any other year to take home the trophy.
Hellebuk finished second in total saves, 1807 and Sorokin finished sixth at 1699.
Olmark way down in 16th at 1366.
Now that could be the only knock against him is that he didn't carry as heavy a workload
as his competitors.
Those 49 appearances in fact put him in 18th among all NHL goal tenders this season.
So the fact that he had a bit of an easier workload compared to Hellebuk who co-led the
NHL in appearances at 64 with UC Sorrows who probably finished fourth in voting because
he had an excellent season.
Sorokin at 62.
Olmark way down at 49.
So that could be the knock against him but still based on the minimums required to lead
the league in these categories.
He was far and away the best at his position.
938 save percentage.
Phillip Gustafson finished second at 931 and then Sorokin down at 924.
Hellebuk tied with Jeremy Swamin at 920.
So when it's all said and done this award it should be Linus Olmark's to lose and I
believe the awards will take place late in June so we'll have a full recap of that.
Coming up here in a moment we're going to talk about what went wrong for Linus Olmark
the season and if there is room for growth.
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Thank you so much once again for making locked on Boston Bruins part of your day every single
day.
The podcast is free and available on your favorite podcast app every dayers can expect a continuation
of the player reviews on Monday that will feature Charlie McAvoy as we break down his
season as well.
Continuing on here with Linus Almark what didn't go well and what are the areas for growth.
Well Linus Almark of course experienced some pretty heavy regression in the playoffs.
Now we all expected that he would come back to earth at some point.
The hope was that it would be maybe next regular season.
His 938 safe percentage was well above his 919 career average through 207 NHL appearances
previously with the Buffalo Sabres.
It's pretty impressive that his 919 safe percentage came and the majority of his seasons were
played in Buffalo.
In the playoffs however his safe percentage plummeted.
He went 3 and 3 with an 896 safe percentage that's down from 938 and he was pulled in
in favor of Jeremy Swamin for a game 7.
The interesting thing here is that those playoff numbers were actually an improvement over
last season.
He appeared in two games against the Carolina Hurricanes with 860 safe percentage allowing
8 goals on 57 shots.
There were questions about whether he was battling injuries and perhaps where his head
was at during the postseason.
He wasn't very clear on it in his end of year media availability.
He said you know what, here's the deal.
We all go through things in life and we all go through things when it comes to playoff
times.
We all battle our own things whether it's mentally or physically.
We all have our stuff.
We all want to be out there and help the team to the best of our capabilities.
Yeah it's pretty evident I didn't play the way that I wanted to.
Wasn't as good as I wanted to be unfortunately at the worst possible time.
That's something I have to live with.
I'm just so grateful for all the guys in the room in the medical room in the organization
especially the guys in the medical room doing everything they can for us.
They've been true warriors throughout the season.
I feel that respect everything that they have, the trust that we have for them is immense.
They helped me throughout this whole season to keep me in shape.
End quote.
I've talked about this already but there's a lot to unpack there.
He obviously credits the guys in the medical room meaning that he was in the medical room
receiving treatment at some point.
Was he completely forth rate about how he was feeling?
Jim Montgomery said he had every reason to believe that Linus Olmark was good to go for
game five, game six.
It became clear after game six that a change was needed and that's why Jeremy Swamin made
that start.
We should have gotten rest earlier in the season or sorry earlier in the playoffs and
again looking at his 49 appearances which is lowest among all Vessna finalists.
Part of the reason he was so good was because he wasn't carrying that heavy workload and
he had Jeremy Swamin to offset him.
So that's partly on Jim Montgomery for not making that decision sooner but partly on
Linus Olmark if he wasn't feeling 100% either physically or mentally.
There was obviously something going on there and obviously that's what didn't go well for
him this season.
When it comes to areas of growth that honesty with himself, with his teammates, with his
coaching staff, we heard Jim Montgomery talk earlier this week about those peer groups
that he wanted to set up where guys can get together and kind of be totally honest with
one another.
Sounds like something out of the Ted Lasso playbook but it could work and if they have
that safe space to know that yeah let's put what's best for the team first.
Everybody wants to be out there.
Everybody is battling something especially in the playoffs but you don't have to forge
ahead if you're not 100% don't have to pretend like everything is hunky dory especially when
you have a guy like Jeremy Swamin there to spell you off.
We all love the hockey hugs.
We love the support that they show one another and I would have loved to have seen Jeremy
Swamin playing against Florida a bit earlier in the series.
Coming up here in a moment we're going to talk about what's next for Linus Olmark.
Will he be a player on this team next year?
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The Denver Nuggets are one step closer to reaching the NBA Finals after sending the Phoenix Suns
packing on Thursday night.
On a long enough timeline, Nicole Yokech wins over everyone.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the NHL draft lottery and with it the opportunity to add Connor Bredard
to their roster.
I do think the Blackhawks fans are absolutely deserving of a generational talent like Connor
Bredard to be the face of this city moving forward.
And the 2023 NFL season is officially set to kick off in Kansas City where the Chiefs
will host the Detroit Lions on September 7th.
This could be a prime chance for the Lions to make their claim.
For more on all these stories, make sure to check out the newest episodes of Locked
On Nuggets Locked On Black Hawks and Locked On NFL.
Then check out Locked Ons newest series Paving the Way.
Each episode will highlight a different voice from across the network, a Locked On host
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Alright so there have been some questions about whether or not Lienus Olmark could be
a candidate to be traded here in the off season.
He has two years remaining on his contract at a very reasonable $5 million cap hit and
based on the way he played this past season, obviously just tremendous value there.
There are some goalies who are being paid $10 million and not getting anywhere near
that level of production.
Think of Sergei Brabrowski in Florida had a very rough regular season but he stepped
up huge in the playoffs very much earning the $10 million that he's being paid.
And that could be a kicker there if you're trying to trade Lienus Olmark in that his
value while he likely will win the Vessner trophy.
His value could come into question because he was not able to step up when the games
mattered most and in fact he faltered quite strongly.
He does have some no trade protection, 16 team no trade list.
This coming season 15 team no trade list in 2024-25 so still leaves the door open for
some movement there if the Bruins decide they want to do that.
Olmark said he is very motivated to run it back next year.
That said all he could think about the other day he said the motivation and the inspiration
that you get from these ones is huge.
All I can think about right now is I want to get back into the gym, get back in the ice,
just run it back and show them it was a fluke that were better than this.
I love that motivation.
The reality is Jeremy Swamin is a restricted free agent and could command close to what
Lienus Olmark is making at the moment.
He compared his current deal to that of Spencer Knight of the Florida Panthers.
Now his situation the bit murky as he entered the Player Assistance Program but prior to
that he was given a three year $13.5 million contract extension with an average annual
evaluation of $4.5 million.
His career save percentage is lower than that of Jairmy Swamin.
Spencer Knight for his career.
He 906 save percentage in 57 appearances for the Florida Panthers.
Jeremy Swamin, 90 appearances for the Boston Bruins in the regular season, a 919 save
percentage.
So if you're using that as a comparable Spencer Knight gets 4.5 you could easily make a case
that Swamin is worth at least that and possibly more up to the same level as Lienus Olmark.
Those negotiations could become a bit contentious.
Again, there's a tough spot for Swamin in game 7.
We'll do his own season and review later on but he didn't necessarily steal that game
for them.
He didn't play terribly but he was putting a tough spot.
Let's do it.
All that to say do the Bruins want to commit 9 to 10 million dollars in their goalie pairing
even as effective as it is or do they want to seeing as they're in a cap crunch with
that $4.5 million bonus overage.
That right there is Jeremy Swamin's potential contract.
Without that can they afford to have both of these guys?
Do they decide to flip Olmark and go with Swamin and Brandon Bussey or do they look to
sign a veteran goalie on the cheap?
There are quite a few goalies who will hit unrestricted free agency this summer.
Most notably Jonathan Quick, Sami Envarlamov, Frederick Anderson, Cam Talbot, Tristan Jari,
Alex Nadelkovich could be an interesting name.
He has dropped off a bit but he was a Calder Trophy candidate a couple of years ago.
Kenzie Blackwood in New Jersey, Laurent Barasois who's played well for Vegas lately.
Blackwood is an RFA so he probably won't be an option.
All that to say there are options on the open market.
Martin Jones, Yairos Lev-Hilak, Unis-Corpusalo.
It's very possible that the Bruins could elect to flip Linus Olmark and resign Jeremy Swamin,
right to him as the number one and then bring in a veteran for backup duties.
That's not my preference.
I would love to see this goalie tandem remain together for at least the next couple of years
or into, for next season, maybe into the next season, you look to trade Linus Olmark at
the deadline as an impending unrestricted free agent.
Again, his values high, he's going to win the Vesna but also not great seeing as how
he played in the playoffs.
I have no idea where they're going to go but you can make a case either way.
That's it for today's episode my friends.
Linus Olmark, a bit of an up and down season, the way it ended, very disappointing but I'm
not at the point where I'm pining for him to be traded but it could become necessary
based on the salary cap.
Anyways, I hope you've all had a great week.
Thank you so much for joining me here on Lock Don Boston Bruins this week, your favorite
team every single day.
On Monday we'll look at Charlie McAvoy and for now, finishing up some work, heading to
a family wedding this evening, very excited about that and we'll be back here on Monday
on Lock Don Boston Bruins, part of the Lock Don Podcast Network, your favorite team every
single day.
The Denver Nuggets are one step closer to reaching the NBA Finals after sending the
Phoenix Suns packing on Thursday night.
On a long enough timeline, Nicole Yokech wins over everyone.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the NHL draft lottery and with it the opportunity to add Connor
Bredard to their roster.
I do think the Blackhawks fans are absolutely deserving of a generational talent like Connor
Bredard to be the face of this city moving forward.
And the 2023 NFL season is officially set to kick off in Kansas City where the Chiefs
will host the Detroit Lions on September 7th.
This could be a prime chance for the Lions to make their claim.
For more on all these stories, make sure to check out the newest episodes of Locked
On Nuggets, Locked On Black Hawks and Locked On NFL.
Then check out Locked Ons newest series, Paving the Way.
Each episode will highlight a different voice from across the network, a Locked On host
whose journey in the industry has helped pave the way toward creating a more inclusive
and diverse media landscape that's paving the way presented by State Farm, available
now on the Locked On Presents podcast feed.
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