Linus Ullmark
Ullmark is Ottawa's clear No. 1 goalie, but he is on injured reserve with a lower-body strain, and the only return date I found is a projection from one preview site.
Role
Before the injury he was the starter and went 7-1-0 with a 1.33 GAA and .945 save percentage (TSN, Oct. 22). He is on IR now. Samuel Ersson is covering the crease, with Jonas Johansson recalled from Belleville on Oct. 22 (TSN). Inside the Rink's Nov. 1 preview lists Ersson and Johansson as the goalies for Ottawa's game at Anaheim. SensChirp's lines page (updated Oct. 28) shows the same pair. Inside the Rink also lists Ullmark as expected back Saturday, Nov. 7. That is a site projection, and I found no club or beat-writer confirmation of it. I did not read Daily Faceoff's live goalie page because my fetch of it failed. Ullmark is 33. Last season he had 8 GP and 1 GS in our data. Whether Ersson gets the bulk of starts once Ullmark is back is not addressed in anything I found.
He flipped a switch after a frustrating 2025-26. Through his first eight appearances he ranked second in the league in GAA and save percentage (TSN), and Yahoo credits much of Ottawa's strong start to him. The injury was described as a strain with a 1-2 week timeline from coach Travis Green via TSN's Claire Hanna. The optimists would expect him to return to the top job once healthy, because Ersson has struggled in his absence: a 3.79 GAA and one win on the season (Fubo, Nov. 1).
The strain is the second time this month he failed to finish a game. He left a start against Boston on Oct. 5 after what Green called a minor tweak (Yahoo). BVM Sports notes that Ottawa has struggled to cope with his absences before. His 1.33 GAA and .945 save percentage come from a small sample of eight appearances, and last season's numbers in our data are only 8 GP and 1 GS. Sceptics would worry about both a recurrence and a regression from that early pace. The timeline is also loose: the 1-2 week estimate has been in place since Oct. 22, and he has not been reported back.
Where analysts split
Mostly the timing of his return. Green's 1-2 weeks and Inside the Rink's Nov. 7 projection fit together. Garrioch's early "at least three games and likely more" (via ClutchPoints) was looser. I found no analyst argument about his role once he is healthy, so I am not inventing one. The open questions are the exact return date and whether the lower-body issue lingers.
Injury: IR: assessed real
Lower-body injury, IR, out 1-2 weeks
Starter placed on IR after an in-game injury with a reported 1-2 week absence; he'll miss multiple starts and Ersson/Johansson take over the crease in the interim.
What would change this: Any update on practice return or official re-activation from IR as the 1-2 week window closes.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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