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.
Could the Bruins work a deal for one of the two Columbus goalies?
The Columbus Blue Jackets have two goalies, both entering the final years of their deals that nobody would be surprised if either was moved this summer.
Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins both will enter the second and final year of their two-year deals, and both carry a different cap hit. Korpisalo carries a $2.8 million hit, while Merzlikins is a little not more at $4 million.
This season, Korpisalo and Merzlikins split time between the pipes for the Blue Jackets. Korpisalo went 9-13-7 in 2021 with a 3.30 goals-against average (GAA) and a .894 save percentage (SV%). Merzlikins went 8-12-5, with a 2.77 GAA and a .920 SV%.
Korpisalo, who was selected 62nd in the third round of the 2012 Entry Draft, has spent six years in Columbus, while Merzlikins, who was taken 76th in the third round of the 2014 Entry Draft, has just two NHL seasons under his belt.
Which one would the Bruins prefer? Korpisalo is the cheaper of the two with more experience, but which one would work better for this season with either Jeremy Swayman or Dan Vladar until Rask comes back if re-signed? That’s what the Bruins would have to figure out. Columbus is going to be going through a rebuild, so they might be willing to part ways with one of their two goalies for the right price.
There is no doubt there is a need between the pipes for Boston beginning the 2021-22 season, just how much of need will be decided on whether the team brings back Rask, or moves on the from the veteran.