If the sight of Tuukka Rask shaking off some post-surgery rust at Warrior Ice Arena over the last few weeks wasn’t enough to fuel speculation of Boston’s all-time winningest goalie returning for the 2021-22 stretch run — Don Sweeney’s comments on Tuesday sure seemed to do the trick.
For months now, there seemed to be a general understanding between both player and franchise as far as the next steps forward.
So long as Rask expressed a willingness to play — and was given a clean bill of health after undergoing hip surgery in the summer — the Bruins were going to leave the door ajar for him if he wanted to return for a 15th season in a black-and-gold sweater.
LOOK AT TUUKKA GO pic.twitter.com/w29HfRVguU
— Caylee (@2kaRask) November 29, 2021
Such has been the message broadcasted by Sweeney, Cam Neely and Bruce Cassidy on multiple occasions when asked about the looming decision with Rask — even as the Bruins looked to move forward this season with $20-million-man Linus Ummark and rookie Jeremy Swayman.
But now, with Rask starting to string together more on-ice reps as his recovery schedule accelerates, it sure seems like a given that the 34-year-old netminder will be back in the fold with Boston at some point after the new year — if not even earlier.
“As I said, there’s been a general understanding that Tuukka has to make a decision on his health first and foremost,” Sweeney said. “And when he’s able to do that officially and declares himself that this is what he wants to do and play, then we’ll find a common ground. We have not hidden from that fact, that if he indeed is healthy and wants to play, that he’s likely to be a part of our group.”
Even with the potential complications of adding Rask to the roster as far as reps or cap space is concerned (even though Rask has stressed that he’s not looking to break the bank on a deal), a healthy and effective Rask could potentially shift the fortunes of a Bruins team that has been hampered by so-so production in net so far in 2021.
Despite the optics that come via a few ugly D-zone breakdowns, the Bruins have actually been effective in terms of minimizing the quality of shots that opponents have been able to generate against them — with the B’s ranking first among all 32 NHL clubs in 5v5 expected goals against per 60 minutes at just 1.93 (per TopDown Hockey).
However, both the play of Ullmark and Swayman has left a bit to be desired in terms of generating timely stops or stopping low-danger chances from flying into twine — with both goalies saddled with goals saved above average rates (GSAA) of -1.85 and -3.92, respectively, at 5v5 play.
(In other words, Swayman — at 5v5 play, at least — is surrendering close to four more goals than what an “average” goalie would relinquish, based on shot quality and other factors).
While Ullmark could settle into a rhythm and Swayman can fight through the expected hurdles that rookie netminders face, the Bruins don’t exactly have time on their side with this current contention window.
And if Rask is ready to roll (and willing to sign for cheap), the decision sure seems to be an easy one for Sweeney and Co.
"We've got a long way to go,” Sweeney said of his verdict on Boston’s current goalie rotation with Ullmark and Swayman. "And neither one has played in the playoffs up until this point, to my recollection. So we have a lot of ground to cover. And they've been okay. I think both have had, really, really strong pockets of games and other times where they haven't played quite as well as they would like in situations. We have a higher expectation for everybody in that sense. So I don't think Linus and Jeremy would say anything different than I am.
"They go to work every day and another good opportunity tonight. It's a small sample size for Jeremy. It was tremendous last year, but it was six teams. Now going through some new teams this year, new environments, and teams that are probably doing their due diligence as to how to attack a goaltender in this case. There’s been certainly other goalies who have gone through that. So we've got some growing pains associated with that position. I would say it’s a little more of the inconsistency than anything.
But we're still in a good place with where our goaltending and our depth is, overall. And if we have to address something, we will.”