The Boston Bruins have taken steps to securing their future between the pipes, inking young goalie Dan Vladar to a new deal.
While the timing of the Boston Bruins’ announcement was a little odd; midway through a Stanley Cup Playoffs fixture during which Dan Vladar was serving as the backup, the deal itself is smart.
Dan Vladar has earned an NHL salary increase of $22,000 per season taking his annual cap hit to $750,000. That is an absolute bargain for the Boston Bruins if he starts showing up more on the main roster.
It’s always challenging to judge players, especially goalies, that excel in the AHL. For every Jordan Binnington or Tristan Jarry that earns the promotion and just continues to perform, there’s a story like that of Garret Sparks, who was top-tier in the AHL but didn’t cut it in the NHL.
Perhaps the biggest question mark in the future for the Boston Bruins is what will happen to their goaltending. Both Jaroslav Halak, who they’re hoping to lead them to glory this summer and Tuukka Rask aren’t exactly young bucks anymore.
To get a goalie that has a 1.79 goals-against average and 0.936 save percentage in the AHL signed to a league minimum deal for longer term than both your current NHL goalies is another incredibly shrewd bit of business by the Boston Bruins.
You have to imagine that the young Czech is itching to see some action this summer, even though it seems unlikely. That said, even watching on rink side is going to prove beneficial for his development you’d imagine.
The obvious hope is that Dan Vladar is the team’s future number one or at the very least, a very able backup. Time will tell, because of course he first needs the chance to face NHL-calibre offense.
What we do know though is if he can live up to his AHL reputation the deal will prove an absolute bargain. He certainly doesn’t do any harm to our salary cap situation!