Where the goalie market currently sits after Senators acquired Ullmark

NHL insider Shayna Goldman joins the Jeff Marek Show to break down the Senators acquisition of Linus UIlmark from the Bruins, and to discuss where the goalie market now sits after the flurry of off-season netminder deals.

Despite the fact they do not currently own a first-round pick, the Winnipeg Jets have suddenly become a real team to watch at the 2024 NHL Draft.

Winnipeg jettisoned its first-rounder this year to the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the trade deadline in exchange for centre Sean Monahan. And before we go any further, let’s just point out that Monahan’s performance — he put up 13 goals and 24 points in 34 games with the Jets — combined with the fact there’s a decent chance the 29-year-old will ink a contract to stick around as the second-line centre in Manitoba make surrendering what turned out to be the 26^th-overall pick for his services look like a wonderful decision by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.

Now, the question is whether Cheveldayoff might pull off another deal that would see the Jets re-enter the first-round conversation — possibly in a spot where they could get a serious prospect.

In the weeks leading up to the draft, momentum seems to be growing around the idea that 2022 first-rounder Rutger McGroarty will be moved by the team because, for whatever reason, the player and the club won’t be able to hammer out a contract that would see the University of Michigan winger leave school for pro hockey next fall.

And that’s only the most recent source of trade speculation in Winnipeg because there’s a strong sense lifetime Jet Nik Ehlers — with one year to go before he can hit the open market as a 2025 UFA — is more likely to be dealt by the squad than ink an extension with it this summer.

If a 28-year-old winger with 30-goal capabilities is available, people are going to come calling.

While the Ehlers speculation is interesting, the potential for a McGroarty trade is fascinating because — unlike the former — the latter could conceivably fit with a contending team, a rebuilding team and basically every club in between. What team wouldn’t at least make a call on a strong, six-foot-one player drafted 14^th overall who’s 20 years old and will be on a cost-capped entry-level deal when he joins the NHL four-to-16 months from now?

A quick peek at the draft board shows two teams that seem like viable dance partners for Winnipeg in the New Jersey Devils at 10^th overall and the Buffalo Sabres one slot later at No. 11.

The Devils are almost certainly looking to add a young forward, so would they look long and hard at McGroarty as a guy who will surely be ready to make an NHL contribution sooner than anyone New Jersey could draft on Friday? As for the Sabres, yes, Buffalo is already prospect-rich, but the organization might jump at the chance to get its hands on a more rugged type like McGroarty, especially after selecting the likes of Zach Benson and Matthew Savoie in recent drafts. The Sabres’ perfect-world scenario might be swapping the pick for instant, significant help, but given McGroarty’s profile — which includes being captain of the gold medal-winning Team USA squad at the 2024 World Junior Champion