The chances of Tuukka Rask returning to the Boston Bruins felt pretty good when Rask mentioned in the offseason the only team he would play for was Boston.
They get even stronger when Rask started practicing at Warrior Ice Arena with Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa.
Then things really heated up when the Finnish goaltender was tabbed as the Bruins’ emergency backup goalie and was practicing with the team.
Now, there’s a plan in place for the former Bruins goaltender to actually return to the Bruins.
Rask will join AHL’s Providence at some point in January
Bruce Cassidy announced on Tuesday that the plan for Rask is to join the Providence Bruins to get get some reps in before joining Boston. It likely would be during Boston’s road trip that takes place from the middle of January.
Current plan is for Tuukka Rask to play for Providence during next month's three-game road trip.
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) December 28, 2021
This would allow Rask to get in some real-game reps before ultimately joining the Boston team. The last time Rask played in the AHL was in 2008-09, so it’s been over a decade since he’s played in the minor leagues.
It’s smart to give Rask some reps in with the P-Bruins before fully joining the Bruins. He hasn’t played in a real game situation since the Bruins were knocked off in the second round of the 2021 playoffs by the New York Islanders in early June of this year.
Now this is obviously if Rask signs a contract, but I think we all can agree he wouldn’t be practicing with the team this often if he hadn’t had plans on re-joining, but it’s still one more step in the process that needs to happen.
But now the question that everyone has been speculating for months – what happens to the other two goalies when the 2014 Vezina winner joins the team again?
After a shaky start to the season, Linus Ullmark has finally settled in. He’s allowed just two goals in each of the last six games he’s started. He sports a 7-5-0 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .922 SV%. Rookie Jeremy Swayman has been a bit more inconsistent, but has shown flashes where he looks like a No. 1 goaltender. He’s 7-5-2 with a 2.29 GAA and a .917 SV%.
The likely solution is to send Swayman to the minors since he’s waiver-exempt. It’s suck considering how well Swayman has transitioned to the NHL and doesn’t need the reps in the AHL anymore. But you signed Ullmark to be your starter and he’s finally playing like one.
Nonetheless, Rask will likely be donning a Boston Bruins jersey in an NHL game once again in the near future.