The Bruins began this offseason with the potential to lose two iconic veterans. As of now, the Bruins already lost one with the departure of David Krejci. Now its Tuukka Rask‘s turn to make a decision. It seems as though that he has already made it.
It really is no secret that Tuukka Rask wants to be in Boston. He has said in the past that Boston is his home and he can’t imagine playing anywhere else. But at this point in time, the Bruins have yet to resign him. There are several possible reasons for that, but none of those reasons appear to be because of Tuukka’s decisions.
This Wednesday, Tuukka Rask appeared at Boston’s annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telephon. Something that the goalie regularly has done while playing for the Bruins. While there, Tuukka appeared on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show. While on the show, Tuukka was obviously asked about his future with the Bruins.
“For me it’s about the pride playing for one team and one team only,” Tuukka said. “I have no reason to chase the money anymore and go somewhere else…It’s going to be one of those things where the Bruins are my home, Boston is my home. I’ve always wanted to play here, wanted to stay here.” If Tuukka’s intentions were not known before, they certainly are now.
In the same interview, Rask mentioned that money is not the issue. Which is not something that you expect a high caliber goalie to even say. With his desire to stay in Boston, Tuukka may just be willing to take the league minimum. An absolutely insane idea considering the level of play Tuukka is able to produce at.
Most likely though, the Bruins will not offer Rask the league minimum. Probably just out of respect for him. Still, the Bruins will offer Rask a contract well below what other teams may give him. With holes such as Krejci’s old spot still yet to be filled, Boston knowing money is not an issue for Rask makes the risk of signing him not very high. If the Bruins give him a contract, they still would have room for bigger moves.
When one of the best goaltenders of the decade is saying they are willing to play for a bad of pucks, a team should take advantage of that. The only major concern right now is that Rask is recovering from injury/surgery and won’t be back till the start of 2022. The Bruins already have signed Linus Ullmark in the meantime to be the starting goalie over Jeremy Swayman.
Come January-February 2022, it would be shocking if Tuukka is not on the Bruins roster. Tuukka would help to bring a strong potential second half boost for Boston. Ullmark is a very good goalie, and having him and Rask as a tandem would be a wonderful problem to have. Basically, if the Bruins don’t bring back Rask, they could be missing out on a key factor to a postseason push.
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