For the first time in over a decade, Tuukka Rask will be playing in the American Hockey League.
Rask inked a professional tryout contract with the Providence Bruins, the AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins, on Thursday to begin his midseason comeback to the NHL. He’s expected to start against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday.
The plan is for Rask to get into some game action with Providence and then ink a contract with the Bruins and be up with the club next week.
Rask’s eight-year, $56 million contract came to an end after the 2021 season, but, rather than signing a new deal, the 34-year-old opted to wait and see where he was at after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip.
Though he was an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career, it was well known that if Rask was going to continue playing in the NHL, it would be with the Bruins. Back in December, Rask served as the Bruins’ emergency backup goaltender while the team was dealing with COVID-19 protocol issues.
The Bruins currently own a 17-10-2 record, good for eighth in the Eastern Conference in terms of points percentage. Their two goaltenders, Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have combined for a .918 save percentage.
On Thursday’s edition of the Daily Faceoff Show, Frank Seravalli said that Boston’s most likely course of action will be sending down Swayman to the AHL since he’s on an entry-level contract and doesn’t need to go through waivers. Seravalli also predicts that Rask’s contract with the Bruins will be a one-year deal.
Rask has spent his entire 560-game NHL career with Boston and is the franchise’s all-time leader in wins with 306. In 24 appearances last season, he went 15-5-2 and had a .913 save percentage.
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