Speaking to The Hockey News at the NHL’s annual Players’ Tour in Las Vegas, Ullmark proposed changes to the length of regular-season overtime and how best to determine goaltender interference.
The Swede told Ryan Kennedy that he would like to see a longer overtime period, much like during February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, rather than the standard five minutes of extra time currently.
“My two cents, we should add five more minutes of overtime like at the 4 Nations. Because it comes down more to play,” Ullmark said.
The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner explained that the longer overtime period would, in theory, reduce the number of shootouts needed to break a tie game.
“From the perspective of a goaltender, you can go out and play the best game of your life and have a shutout — and the other goalie can play phenomenal as well — then you go out there and let in three (shootout goals), and you feel like the worst goalie ever,” Ullmark continued, adding that he has a “love-and-hate” relationship with shootouts.
“When you save all three and win, it’s such a rush, and you’re so happy because it’s on the line, you and the shooter. You get that vibe. But when you’re the reason you lose, it sucks.”
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Ullmark was not shy in expressing how he would handle some of the more controversial rules in the NHL, also putting forth his take on how to solve the perpetual vagueness of goaltender interference.
“I would add a specific goal watcher/referee in Toronto who has the perspective of goaltenders to really put it down in black and white what is goaltender interference and what is not,” he offered.
Ullmark explained that the difference in perspective between the goalie and opposing player is what makes goaltender interference calls so vague, and the subjective nature of the rule makes coach’s challenges feel like a “gamble.”
He added that in his ideal scenario, goaltender interference would be “very clear-cut, like it is with offside,” or at the very least, have some of the grey-area accounted for in the rulebook.
“It really comes down to inches and perspective sometimes,” Ullmark continued. “The goalie is outside of his crease trying to get back, but he gets jumbled up (with an opponent). In the rulebook, it says if you’re outside the crease, technically it shouldn’t be interference. But he’s trying to get back, and he’s not able to get there. I’d like it to get away from the grey zone.”
While it might be unrealistic to hope for more objectivity in the NHL’s most subjective rule, the league has made attempts to provide clarity to general managers on the rule.
“These aren’t black and white,” the NHL’s vice president of hockey operations Kris King said in March, per Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. “There’s a lot of judgment that goes into these… They’re never the same. They’re snowflakes. There’s a lot of different things that go into it.”
Ullmark, entering Year 2 with the Senators, finished his first season in the nation’s capital with a .910 save percentage and 2.72 goals-against average — down from his previous two seasons in Boston, though Ullmark managed a career-high four shutouts in 2024-25.
He and his Senators will open the 2025-26 season in Tampa Bay on Oct. 9.
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