Boston Bruins: No contract renewal for third-choice goalie Zane McIntrye
The Boston Bruins have allowed 26 year-old goaltender, Zane McIntrye to move on in this free agency, heading West to the Vancouver Canucks.
After being selected in the sixth round (165th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, you could be forgiven for hedging bets on Zane McIntrye eventually taking the reigns from Tuukka Rask in the Boston Bruins net.
Such is the challenge of recruiting a young goaltender though, Zane McIntrye goes by the wayside. He served as a very strong option as the Providence Bruins number one goaltender for much of that time, but never cracked the NHL roster, aside from 8 games in a fill-in role during the 2016-17 season.
He now looks set to be seated at fourth on the Vancouver Canucks depth chart; hardly an improvement on his position on the Boston Bruins depth chart. He has proved replaceable, with the Bruins acquiring Quebec native, Maxime Lagace to fill his role on the Providence roster.
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The past season with the Providence Bruins, Zane McIntrye wasn’t even seen as the bonafide number one, finding himself sharing the net routinely with Dan Vladar who now usurps him as likely the best future goaltending option in the Boston Bruins’ system.
An equal $700,000 cap hit for a goaltender that is a year younger than McIntyre suggests that the Boston Bruins have won this deal. Essentially it’s been a one-for-one trade between the two AHL options, albeit one carried out through the disbursement of one contract in lieu of another.
Moving on from prospects that no longer seem likely to offer good value to the organisation is part and parcel of the prospect pipeline. Zane McIntrye won’t be the first player to be cast aside despite the Boston Bruins investing plenty of time and effort into him.
Nor will he be the last; that’s the nature of the modern-day NHL. You accrue prospects, give them time to develop and especially with goaltenders where there is a very limited scope for main roster promotion, either promote them to the NHL or cast them aside for little or no return.
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Zane McIntrye gave his best during his time with the Providence Bruins and in his limited spell in the NH; for that we’re thankful but the move is very much understood.