BRIGHTON, Mass -- It felt like an unavoidable fate given the way his second stint with the Bruins has gone this year, and on Wednesday B’s backup goaltender Anton Khudobin was placed in waivers by the Black and Gold.
Khudobin had struggled over the last three months to get into a rhythm as Tuukka Rask’s understudy while essentially playing one good game in his seven starts for the Bruins in a pretty key role for the Black and Gold. The 1-5-1 record, 3.06 goals against average and .885 save percentage tell pretty much the entire story for the 30-year-old Khudobin, and the one win in 10 games from Boston’s backup goaltenders clearly indicates a problem that needed addressing.
Claude Julien wasn’t going to drop the hammer on a goalie that clearly couldn’t get into a groove, but he also didn’t shy away from discussing the big problem with Khudobin after Don Sweeney signed him to a two-year deal on July 1.
“I don’t think he’s played at the level that we know he can, and that we’ve seen him play at in the past,” said Claude Julien. “I don’t know if I want to use the term [disappointed] that you used, but he’s certainly very capable of being a better goaltender than we’ve seen.”
So what’s next for the Bruins?
With the Bruins readying to depart on a four game road trip following Thursday night’s home game against the Edmonton Oilers, now would be the time to make the move with the goalies if the Bruins are going to do it.
One would expect that Zane McIntyre would get the first look as Rask’s backup after winning AHL goalie of the month honors in December, and his numbers have been spectacular this season: 10-0-0 with a 1.41 goals against average and a .951 save percentage were practically screaming for a look by the Black and Gold. The 24-year-old McIntyre has also already got the NHL pressure situations stuff out of the way by playing in both Madison Square Garden and the Bell Centre as his first two NHL starting gigs.
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It will be an adjustment for McIntyre to get used to sporadic playing time as Rask’s backup partner, but it was also pretty clear that the B’s No. 1 goaltender is getting to a point in the season where he might need a little more rest after giving up the occasional soft goal as of late.