The priority for Cam Neely and the Bruins these days might be seeing this season through and orchestrating yet another push for the Stanley Cup this summer, but a potentially transformative offseason still looms on the horizon for the Original Six franchise — with just how many more kicks at the can this veteran group can muster likely determined by what transpires in late July and August.
While the status of Boston’s top deadline pickup in Taylor Hall will be one of the key offseason storylines for a Bruins team that certainly looks capable of keeping its Cup-contention window for another year or two if most of the band gets back together — the ultimate determinant in terms of just how viable Boston can maintain its status as a top force in the East will hinge on the future of a pair of stalwarts in Tuukka Rask and David Krejci.
Both Krejci, 35, and Rask, 34, might be reaching the final stretch of their playing careers — but the pending UFAs still serve as key cogs on a Bruins’ roster still driven by its tested crop of veteran talent.
Rask was immense during Boston’s gentleman’s sweep of the Capitals last week, posting a .941 save percentage over five games against a Washington offense that averaged 3.36 goals per game during the regular season (7th in NHL).
And even though Krejci’s individual numbers may not pop from the B’s first-round matchup (two assists in five games against the Capitals), you could make the case that the second line of Krejci, Hall and Craig Smith are due to break out and resume their high-scoring ways in short order — given that Boston held a commanding 18-7 edge in high-danger scoring chances when that top-six unit was on the ice for 62:33 of 5v5 ice time in the first round.
Fair to say, if Boston is going to extend their season deep into June and July and find themselves within reach of the greatest trophy in sports, both Rask and Krejci are going to play a major role in said venture. But beyond 2021, the Bruins must remain open about what’s the best course to take in the years ahead.
Of course, the preferable option would be to just run things back with the usual suspects, but some of those desires might be stunted by the cold-hard reality of the cap. Even though Boston should have some fiscal flexibility this offseason with around $27 million in cap space (per CapFriendly) the B’s must be cognizant of the flat-cap era that they’re in, especially when it comes to setting side some cash in the coming years for what will be HEFTY pay raises for both Charlie McAvoy (RFA in 2022) and David Pastrnak (UFA in 2023).
As tempting as it might be for some fans to simply part ways with Rask, save some dough this offseason and roll with the likely heir apparent in net in Jeremy Swayman, we’ve cautioned about the risk that comes with putting all your eggs in one basket with an extremely promising, but still largely unproven, netminder.
Neely, speaking with the media via Zoom on Tuesday morning, joined the chorus when it came to praising Rask’s poise as Boston’s No. 1 netminder during the Caps series. Still, when it comes to the future, Neely wasn’t ready to offer any tangible commitments regarding Rask — especially with the 2021 season still far from over.
“First of all, I think he’s been extremely dialed in this past series,” Neely said of Rask. “I thought he played really well. He was very poised. He was very square to the puck, in my opinion. I thought he handled rebounds really well. And he got out and played some pucks, which certainly helps the defensemen.
“Both Tuukka and our camp said we would table everything for the season to see how things go and get a better sense after the season's over for how Tuukka is feeling, both mental and physically, and we’ll go from there."
Given that both Krejci and Rask have each spent over a decade in a black-and-gold sweater, it’d seem likely that — barring any snags in terms of money or perhaps Boston’s long-term plans — the veteran pivot and netminder would want to remain in Boston for the foreseeable future as they reach the final stages of their esteemed pro careers.
"I haven't talked to them myself personally about that, I kind of let the season go along and just let them focus on playing this year,” Neely said. “My guess is that they would (want to return). I think they both would probably like to finish their careers as Boston Bruins, so let's see what happens this off season. But there's something to be said about playing for one organization and right now, that's what it's looking like for both Tuukka and David."
Even though Neely did not flat out declare that Boston plans on doing whatever it can to retain both Rask and Krejci — it certainly seems as though the franchise still views them as key pieces to the puzzle. While Boston will need to retool sooner rather than later, the appeal of bringing both Rask and Krejci back for at least another few seasons to cap off the Bergeron era likely far outweighs any other contingency plan for Neely and Co.
"We'll have to see how we can make things work," Neely said. "Again, we want to get through this season, see how things play out. We'll go from there. The way that Tuukka's played for his career here is pretty impressive. I mean, now he's a leader in not only regular season wins but in playoff wins. And David Krejci always seems to elevate his game in the playoffs. He's done it before and he's doing it again now. We'll go from there once the season's over."