Could a Central Division Team Help the Bruins With a Goalie?

As the Boston Bruins enter the offseason, there are several needs that the Black and Gold have as they begin to construct a roster for the 2021-22 season. With several free agents, there are going to be plenty of decisions to be made by general manager Don Sweeney.

Two days following the Bruins’ elimination from the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at the hands of the New York Islanders, free-agent to be goalie Tuukka Rask met with the media and broke some pretty big news.

Rask said that he had played the end of the regular season and playoffs on a torn hip labrum, that forced him to be a game-by-game decision with the coaching and medical staff. In the end, the veteran netminder played in each of the postseason games, despite not being fully healthy.

Rask is going to need offseason surgery and will be out until January or February of 2022 to fully heal from the surgery. His return of course is based on whether or not he re-signs with the Bruins, something he said he wants to do. Don’t expect him to sign anywhere else as he has stated several times that it’s Boston or nowhere else.

With the news of the surgery, if Sweeney re-signs the former Vezina Trophy winner, he will need to be in the market for either a free agent goalie or get one through a trade. If the trade route has to be done, there is one team that might be willing to part ways with one of their two goalies on their roster.