Senators Activate Ullmark After Tkachuk Trade Shakeup
Ottawa traded its captain for a pile of first-round picks, lost the winger one pick bought to a torn ankle tendon, and just got its best player back.
Ottawa activated Linus Ullmark (7-1-0, 1.33 GAA) after three weeks out, in the fallout of the Brady Tkachuk trade.
The Ottawa Senators have activated goaltender Linus Ullmark from injured reserve, ending a three-week absence in a season already reshaped by trades. [Hellebuyck's return, expected win probability, and navigating NHL trade requests (TSN Morning Coffee, November 10, 2026)]
Ullmark, out since October 21 with a lower-body strain, returns at 7-1-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. His activation follows the trade of former captain Brady Tkachuk to Florida for three first-round picks and a second-rounder. [Hellebuyck's return, expected win probability, and navigating NHL trade requests (TSN Morning Coffee, November 10, 2026)]
The Tkachuk trade is the season's defining move. Ottawa sent its former captain, carrying an 8.21 million dollar average annual value, to the Florida Panthers for three first-round picks and a second-rounder, then flipped one of the firsts to San Jose for William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda. That's a futures haul with a present-tense piece attached, except the present-tense piece is hurt: Eklund is on injured reserve with a torn ankle tendon. [Hellebuyck's return, expected win probability, and navigating NHL trade requests (TSN Morning Coffee, November 10, 2026)]
Which is why Ullmark's return lands so heavily. A team that trades its captain mid-season usually waves a white flag at the standings. Ottawa's odds haven't cooperated with that story: the Senators sit at minus-200 to make the playoffs, an implied chance of about two in three, and their goaltender's numbers are the reason. You don't survive a captain trade and a top-six injury in the same month without a 1.33 goals-against average holding the floor. [Hellebuyck's return, expected win probability, and navigating NHL trade requests (TSN Morning Coffee, November 10, 2026)]
The bet Ottawa made is legible: picks are the most liquid asset in the league, Tkachuk's contract was the roster's center of gravity, and Ullmark at this level covers a rebuild's ugliest nights. The risk is equally legible. If Eklund's ankle costs him the season and the picks land late, the Senators traded the face of the franchise for a timeline. For now, the standings and the oddsmakers are grading the trade kindly. [Hellebuyck's return, expected win probability, and navigating NHL trade requests (TSN Morning Coffee, November 10, 2026)]
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