The Senators are smart to manage Linus Ullmark’s minutes amidst a condensed schedule

The Ottawa Senators are off to a solid start to their 2025-26 season as they look to build upon the momentum they generated last season and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second year in a row.

Despite an injury to captain Brady Tkachuk, the team has found ways to win by getting offensive contributions from all up and down the lineup. That’s been a particularly crucial element, as star goaltender Linus Ullmark is not off to the best start. Through eight appearances, he owns a .870 save percentage and 3.11 goals against average.

On Monday night against Boston, head coach Travis Green opted to give Ullmark the night off entirely, as Leevi Merilainen got the start and Hunter Shepard was called up to serve as the backup.

With a start on tap for Ullmark Tuesday night, the night off spared him from having to go through warmups, his pregame routine and any possibility of being called into action in a move that allowed him to reset a bit mentally.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed why the move was a smart one to make sure that Ottawa’s franchise goalie stays fresh all year long.

Tyler Yaremchuk: It was interesting yesterday to see the Senators recall Hunter Shepard from the American League to backup Merilainen. They opt to give Ullmark the full night off, so no backup duties, doesn’t have to do his whole gameday routine. Do you like that?

Carter Hutton: I think it’s smart… I guess the optics of it I worry about when you talk about load management and we look at basketball and you have fans going to a game to watch superstars, but with a goalie it’s a bit different. For Linus just to decompress and totally stay away from it… he knows what he’s doing, so this is a great play by them in my opinion.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…