The Bruins were in a unique situation this past off-season when it came to their goaltenders.
Youngsters Jeremy Swayman and Dan Vladar were coming off solid seasons, Swayman by far the better of the two.
Tuukka Rask went under the knife to repair a nagging hip injury, a late January to early February return date immediately was the prognoses.
But as soon as the season ended, throughout the summer and up to training camp, Rask’s mindset never changed. He frequently admitted he wanted to continue his playing career, doing so only in Boston.
The Bruins ultimately sent Vladar out to Calgary in a trade, two reasons likely driving the trade. The first being that the Bruins did not love the idea of riding with two young, inexperienced goalies. This makes sense in a way, especially if management felt their Stanley Cup window is still open.
And second, Vladar would have needed waivers to be sent down to Providence should the Bruins had been forced to take that road. The Bruins were not going to take that risk.
I was okay with the trade of Vladar. It opened the door for Swayman, a door that needed to be opened. In Swayman, you had a young goalie that in a small sample size last season, showed you he was NHL-ready.
For this season, figuring out if he was ready to take the reigns as your number one goalie was the challenge.
Where I feel things went wrong for the Bruins in the summer was the signing of Linus Ullmark.
I like Ullmark, don't get me wrong. He’s a good goalie who was stuck behind some ugly Sabres teams. On most nights, he wasn’t getting much help from the guys in front of him. He’s capable of handling the task at hand, helping you win hockey games.
But the contract was the real head scratcher, signing Ullmark to a four-year, $20M contract. Money that the Bruins could have used to upgrade their middle and bottom-six more efficiently than they did this off-season.
“They’ve been okay, general manager Don Sweeney said earlier this week about his goalie tandem. “They both have had really, really strong pockets of games, and other times where they haven’t played as well as they would like in some situations. We have higher expectations for everybody. So, I don’t think Linus and Jeremy would say it any differently than I am.…
Rask has returned to the ice and has frequently been seen at Warrior Ice Arena going through skills sessions that have been led by different Bruins’ personnel. That alone should be enough to tell you that when Rask is healthy and ready to go, he’ll be signed to a contract and officially back with the Bruins.
Although the writing was clearly on the wall, Sweeney went on to confirm what we already knew.
“There’s been a general understanding that Tuukka has to make a decision on his health first and foremost, and when he’s able to do that officially and declare himself that this is what he wants to do and play then we’ll find the common ground,… Sweeney said. “We have not hidden from that fact that if indeed he is healthy and wants to play, then he’s likely to be a part of our group.…
Knowing Rask would be, and wanted to be back and knowing you wanted Rask back, wouldn't the smart move here been to sign a low-cost veteran goalie to go with Swayman and ride it out until Rask returned, allowing you to allocate that cap space elsewhere?
So now, come late January, early February, when Rask is ultimately signed, where do the Bruins go from here? Can you roll with three goalies? What does that mean for the development of Swayman?
Yes, the Bruins can roll with three goalies, teams have done so in the past and in fact, the Bruins did it last year with Rask, Swayman and Jaroslav Halak. However, it was a rotation of starts between Rask and Swayman, Halak made just one start after returning from an April injury, in large part due to the emergence of Swayman.
But to me, a three-goalie rotation makes little sense. It stunts the development of Swayman and makes it difficult for any of the three goalies to get into a rhythm, especially down the stretch where it certainly feels like the Bruins will be fighting for every available point in a playoff push that should come down to the wire.
Sending Swayman down to Providence and running with a Rask and Ullmark rotation is an option, but not a good one.
Swayman has proven he can get the job done at the NHL level. Although he would see most of the playing time, a stint in Providence wouldn’t help his development much. With Swayman, his development should be the priority here.
Swayman’s career high 42-saves in Thursday’s shutout of the Nashville Predators was all the evidence you needed—even though there’s already more than enough—to see that Swayman can lead the Bruins as the team’s top goalie.
Lastly, the Bruins could seek a trade for Ullmark, but the contract that follows Ullmark makes that difficult to do. The Bruins would likely need to eat salary in order to do so. But given the fact they signed Ullmark to a four-year contract shows they plan on having Ullmark as part of their future, he’s not going anywhere.
When it comes to the Bruins' thinking behind their goalie situation, and what it will look like after the New Year provides more questions than answers.
Answers we all can’t wait to get. When Rask is healthy and ready to go, we’ll get one of those answers, at least.