The Toronto Maple Leafs shelled Linus Ullmark and chased him from the net on Saturday, leading to the veteran goalie taking a leave of absence on Sunday.
For much of the 2025-26 season, the Maple Leafs have put forth underwhelming effort after underwhelming effort en route to a 16-15-5 record heading into the Christmas break.
However, coming out of the Christmas break, the team brought it against the Senators, putting up a touchdown in last night's game, chasing veteran goaltender Linus Ullmark from the net after he allowed 4 goals on just 14 shots at 7:28 in the second period.
Ullmark now owns the league's worst goals saved above expected rating, allowing nearly 12 goals more than he should have this season, according to the numbers.
Former Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark taking a leave of absence after being chased from the net by the Maple Leafs
A former Vezina Trophy winner (2022-23), Ullmark did not just up and forget how to tend the goal. Now, it's clear that Ullmark is dealing more with just struggles on the ice as the Swedish goaltender has been granted a leave of absence from the Senators on Sunday.
The Senators confirmed after the 7-5 loss to Toronto that Ullmark's leave of absence was for personal reasons, so it appears to have nothing to do with injury or illness.
Goaltending is a position in which mental fortitude is extremely important, so the fact that Ullmark is leaving his team so abruptly after a loss like that is a pretty good indicator that something is going on in his personal life that is taking his focus away from the game.
Whatever is going on with Ullmark, we wish him all the best and hope that he can resolve whatever issues he needs to to allow for a quick return.