Ullmark on IR. Merilainen and Ersson Are the Answers Now.

Linus Ullmark exited Thursday against Florida and was placed on injury reserve the same day. No timeline has been given. What Ottawa has in net right now is Leevi Merilainen and Samuel Ersson, and that's the situation for however long this lasts.

It's worth noting that the goaltending depth chart here isn't a disaster on paper — Merilainen and Ersson are both legitimate NHL options, not emergency callups. But losing your starter this early, with this many other things already broken, removes any margin. Chabot is still out one to two weeks on the back end. Eklund is 10 to 12 weeks away after ankle surgery. Travis Green has been handed a multi-year extension and a roster that keeps shrinking on him.

The next stretch is going to tell us something about how this group holds together when it's short-handed everywhere at once.