Goalie Tuukka Rask re-signed with the Bruins Tuesday for a team-friendly, prorated, $545,000. The B’s are rolling with a win last night against the Canadiens. Brad Marchand had a hat trick in the first two periods. It was the team’s sixth win in the last seven games.
The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont on Rask:
Putting his heart where his mouth is, Tuukka Rask on Tuesday eschewed the chance to pursue big money that he assuredly could have pocketed elsewhere and re-signed with the Bruins, agreeing to a $1 million contract that will pay him only a prorated $545,000 over the next few months.
The deal positioned Rask to suit up Wednesday night with the Canadiens in town, but general manager Don Sweeney confirmed late in the afternoon that Linus Ullmark will start against the Habs.
Rookie Jeremy Swayman, the odd man out in the 24-square-foot netminding equation, will be headed to AHL Providence while Rask and Ullmark mind the NHL store.
How Rask and Ullmark share the workload over the upcoming seven-game homestand, or for the remainder of the season, is unsure.
Rask could start Thursday against Philadelphia, but COVID-19 concerns on the Flyers’ side could make that another postponement. Next up: the Predators here for a Saturday matinee. Et tu, Tuukka?
Either way, it’s almost Tuukka time again, exact date and time TBD. He’ll address the media Wednesday morning, before his first formal workout in Brighton.
What we do know is that Rask, 34, lived up to his recent word that it was team loyalty and a simple desire to play again, rather than money, money, and more money, that guided his decision to pick up his career where he left off — as the winningest goalie in franchise history.
During his Zoom session last Thursday, Rask said it was “never really in my head’’ to look anywhere other than Boston.
“It’s a business, like everyone knows,’’ noted Rask, who became a regular in net here in the 2009-10 season and evolved as one of the game’s dominant No. 1 goaltenders of his era. “But for us players, when it’s a team like the Bruins, a bunch of us growing up together . . . you don’t want to leave guys on bad terms.’’
He is back, looking lean and fit (some things are a given), and playing without pain, his torn hip labrum surgically repaired over the summer. He is now four-plus months into daily training.
Had he not intended to play again, Rask said, he wouldn’t have undergone surgery and he certainly wouldn’t have invested the sweat equity of training and on-ice workouts recent weeks.
“So, I wanted to come back and be helpful,’’ he added, “and maybe finish it up with a bunch of guys I played with my whole career.’’
To do that, Rask will be playing basically for entry-level dough, in some cases banking less than 10 percent of that being earned by players on a roster that this season includes six teammates with a cap hit of $5 million or more. Rask last season earned $7 million, his final payout of an eight-year, $56 million pact, the richest for a goalie in team history.
By today’s standards, with money-grabbing central to every facet of the sports industry, with no nickel left in any seat cushion anywhere, it’s all but impossible to believe what Rask has done.
Action Line: Achieving goals is important, whether on the ice or in your life. Some of the hardest goals to achieve are those you try to achieve alone. Tuuka Rask signed on for a team-friendly contract because he values those he works with and understands that they make him better the same as he makes them better. Sometimes you need teammates too, who will help you achieve your goals. If you need help achieving your investment goals, I’d love to help you. Let’s talk.
