Nick Goss of NBC Sports Boston: Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask isn’t in a rush to make a decision on his future.
“We’ll see. I don’t have any thoughts right now. It’s a pretty tough loss,” Rask said. “I’m gonna sleep a few nights and we’re gonna have our exit meetings and start planning for the future.”
It may be time for the Bruins to look at moving on from Rask and transition to Jeremy Swayman. If they did move on from Rask they would need to bring in someone with some experience. Could Rask and Swayman split duties next year?
The 34-year old Rask may not want to come back and decide to retire.
Going with Swayman on his entry-level contract as their starter frees up money for free agents Taylor Hall, David Krejci and Brandon Carlo.
DJ Bean of NBC Sports Boston: Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask tailed off towards the end of the series, but the Bruins didn’t have a bottom-six or bottom-four that was built for a championship. The New York Islanders roster was not better than the Bruins but they were deeper. When defenseman Brandon Carlo went down, issues in their own end became apparent.
They have the salary cap space to bring Taylor Hall back on a team-friendly deal. The second line needs a center so it may be smart to re-sign Krejci for a year or two.
Bringing Rask back on a one- or two-year deal at $5 million a season may also be good move, biding some time to make sure Jeremy Swayman is ready to be a full-time starter.
The Bruins need to improve on the blue line, more on the second-pairing as opposed to the top-pairing guy.
Creating more stability to their bottom six is another area that needs to be addressed this offseason. Nick Ritchie and Jake DeBrusk are expendable and could be left exposed for the expansion draft. They shouldn’t bring back RFA Ritchie.