From now until the beginning of training camp, Bruins Insider Joe Haggerty is profiling players who will be on, or have a chance to be on, the 2018-19 Bruins. Today: Tuukka Rask.
Rask, 31, had a solid regular season for the Bruins with the regular share of high points and low points, but he was mightily aided by a strong season from backup goalie Anton Khudobin. Rask finished 34-14-5 in 53 regular-season starts. That put him right around the preferred workload for the slender (6-foot-3, 176 pounds) Finnish goaltender. It certainly wasn’t his best season, playoffs included, in 2017-18, but It wasn’t the $7 million man’s worst either and that’s probably worth noting.
MORE BRUINS:
- B's not expecting the same rookie wave this season
- Tavares chase was a fun ride for most, but not Krejci
What Happened Last Year: Rask struggled early out of the gate to the point where Khudobin needed to make four consecutive starts in November, but that mini-benching seemed to really inspire Rask for the next few months. Rask went on to a 2.36 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 54 regular-season games and was very good on most occasions with the kind of mental and physical rest that he requires to be most effective. The playoffs were a bit of a different story as his save percentage dropped to .907 for the 12-game postseason. His Game 7 performance against the Maple Leafs was dreadful. If not for a stingy B’s defense that didn’t allow a single shot on goal in the first 10 minutes of the third period, the Bruins might not have won that game. To his credit, Rask was better in the second round against Tampa Bay. Still, Game 7 vs. the Leafs was a stark reminder that despite all the gaudy career stats for Rask, he has a habit of not showing up in the biggest games.
Questions To Be Answered This Season: The interesting question facing Rask is how much longer he’s going to hold on to the No. 1 job with the Bruins given that his game has kind of hit a plateau in recent years. Rask is a talented goalie who needs a lot of in-season rest. He has his moments where he needs to be bailed out in the regular season and hasn’t really proven himself to be a dominant big-game goaltender. Enter into the equation Jaroslav Halak, signed as Rask’s backup goalie for this season, and for the next two years. Halak has been a No. 1 for most of his long NHL career and registers as the best goalie that’s ever backed up Rask, so he’s going to challenge Boston’s No. 1 goalie in a way that he’s never been challenged before. That should set up some interesting competition where Halak could take some real playing time from Rask and it could start to open a new chapter where Rask is no longer the clear-cut No. 1.
In Their Own Words: “Boston fans are passionate — every sport. You know, I’m a fan of sports. I criticize players if I see that they suck, so it’s no different. It’s part of the job. I don’t really know what’s being said and whatnot because I don’t follow it. It’s probably better off that way, but you know, it doesn’t bother me. You know, people can say whatever they feel like, whatever they want, you know. They’re fans, so it won’t affect my job.” –Rask, on being something of a lightning rod for criticism as the No. 1 goalie for the Bruins.
Boston Bruins
Overall Outlook: Rask is coming off a fairly solid season as the No. 1 goalie, but some of the same questions remain about his viability in being the goalie on a Stanley Cup-winning team. He’s super-talented and has proven himself with some very strong regular seasons, but he also always seems to come up short in the biggest moments for the Black and Gold. Perhaps Halak will be the guy that finally pushes Rask into that next level where he can carry the Bruins through a few playoff rounds, or win some big regular-season games while standing on his head. It may feel like it’s nit-picking with Rask, but when his strengths and weaknesses force the B’s to spend nearly $10 million in cap space on goaltending, the Bruins need to get the kind of performance that their investment would necessitate.