The Boston Bruins may be set on the main roster between the pipes, but the cupboards are a little bare beyond that.
Right now, Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak clearly have control of the crease for the Boston Bruins and should do so for at least a couple more years in Rask’s case and hopefully the same if Halak can be renewed cheaply.
However, beyond these two, there isn’t a stand-out young prospect between the pipes that looks to be able to eventually step up to the NHL and take over from either of the current tandem. Look around the league and it’s clear to see that teams like the Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers have drafted well in net.
The Flyers ended up giving Carter Hart the job midway through last season whilst Henrik Lundqvist at times was shown up by Alexandar Georgiev, while Vancouver have Thatcher Demko stepping up too.
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For the Boston Bruins, there isn’t a single goaltender in the organisation, beyond the main roster, at least, that you envisage as an eventual NHL stater. Perhaps there is a Jordan Binnington story among them, but hedging your bets that such a story is repeated isn’t exactly the solution to the lack of strong prospects.
Currently in the system are three guys with the Providence Bruins and one that’ll be turning out for the University of Maine in the collegiate system this year:
Maxime Lagace
Brought in during this summer’s free agency, Maxime Lagace hardly rates as a prospect; he’s already 26 years-old after all. Out of the group though, he does have some degree of NHL experience.
The Vegas Golden Knights had serious goaltending issues due to injuries in their inaugural NHL season and as a result, Lagace saw 16 games in net filling in for Marc-Andre Fleury. He may well see time should the Boston Bruins encounter injuries to Rask or Halak, but you’d have to imagine he’d be filling in rather than auditioning for a long-term role on the roster.
Kyle Keyser
Of all the goaltenders in the Boston Bruins system, Kyle Keyser is the only one you can consider a prospect to eventually make it to the NHL. He put up impressive numbers with the Oshawa Generals last season and ended up playing his first AHL play-off game as reward for his efforts.
This coming season will be his first full-term with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League and it will be up to the Florida native to likely back-up Lagace, unless of course Providence also chose to run a tandem akin to the Boston Bruins.
Jeremy Swayman
A rare Alaskan-born player; Jeremy Swayman has put up decent numbers in his first two years with the University of Maine. Save percentages of 0.921% and 0.919% year-on-year certainly suggest there is something there.
You’d have to imagine he is spending the next two seasons in the collegiate system, developing his skills further before eventually moving up to the Providence Bruins. From there, it’ll be a case of hoping to step up to the Boston Bruins when Tuukka Rask’s contract expires.
Dan Vladar
The final player that may potentially be the future of the Boston Bruins between the pipes is Dan Vladar. He has thus far followed the well-trodden path from the ECHL to the AHL, though this season he might find himself as third-choice should he remain with Providence.
That doesn’t exactly lend to a future on the main roster. Now what he does have in his favour is his height and size, but chances are he spends another year in the ECHL. That doesn’t exactly scream out huge future goalie potential.
Whilst there certainly are some options, nobody is setting themselves apart as the absolute future number one. Not yet anyway.