The Boston Bruins are focused on the next round and a long playoff run, meaning contract talks can wait for pending free-agent goaltender Tuukka Rask. Bruins president Cam Neely told reporters Tuesday including Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com that Rask and the team have agreed to push off any negotiations until after the season.
Though he is unquestionably their starting goaltender right now and just posted a .941 save percentage in the first round, it will be interesting to see how the two sides come together this offseason. The Bruins have a young goaltender in Jeremy Swayman who looks ready for the job and Daniel Vladar who has dominated the minor leagues. The 34-year-old Rask and longtime tandem partner Jaroslav Halak are pending free agents, meaning if the Bruins wanted to, they could make a pretty drastic shift in net next season and reinvest the cap space elsewhere.
There is very little that Rask has failed to accomplish at the NHL level. A Stanley Cup, a Vezina Trophy, a Jennings Trophy, a First All-Star team selection, nearly 100 playoff appearances — the list goes on for one of the most successful goaltenders of his generation. Rask’s .921 regular-season save percentage puts him third all-time behind only Dominik Hasek and Johnny Bower; his .927 in the playoffs close to the top as well.
Still, there has been a faction of Bruins supporters that have had a near-constant call for change in the Bruins crease thanks to perceived aloofness or inconsistency from the Finnish netminder. Now, as the offseason approaches, there will be a difficult decision to be made. Bruins GM Don Sweeney is used to those; he let franchise icons Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug leave in free agency last summer, noting a need to give more ice time to their young defensemen. The same could be said about the goaltending position after Swayman, who has two more years on his entry-level contract, burst onto the scene and recorded a .945 save percentage in 10 appearances.
Boston carried a $9.25M cap hit this season between Rask and Halak, a number that could drop dramatically next year if they handed the reins to Swayman. That kind of financial capital would be more than enough to reinforce other parts of the lineup or perhaps even help to retain the services of deadline addition Taylor Hall.
Of course, handing the crease to a relatively unproven goaltender as key members of the team continue to age out of their prime is a risky proposition. There’s no reason the decision has to be made now, in fact, what happens over the next several weeks in the playoffs should hold weight. But there is a tough call coming in Boston when the talks between Rask and the Bruins resume.
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