Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

There’s competition for Bruins’ backup goalie gig

Chad Johnson

Chad Johnson #31 of the Phoenix Coyotes makes a save against the St. Louis Blues in the third period at the Scottrade Center on April 18, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Blues beat the Coyotes 2-1 in a shootout. (April 17, 2013 - Source: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America)

There’s no question that Tuukka Rask will enter the 2013-14 campaign as the Boston Bruins’ undisputed starting goaltender. He was superb in the lockout-shortened season after spending years as the overqualified backup of Tim Thomas.

The fact that the Bruins signed him to an eight-year, $56 million contract speaks volumes about their level of confidence in him and it’s warranted. But Rask’s understudy will still have relevancy next season.

After all, while the Bruins will lean on Rask, the 26-year-old has never played in more than 45 NHL games in a single season. If you expand those numbers to include the minors and professional European leagues, Rask’s regular season career-high was in 2008-09 when he played in 57 contests with the AHL Providence Bruins.

So the Bruins might be cautious about overworking him and with Anton Khudobin gone, they don’t have a clear backup netminder. Chad Johnson, who is 27 years old and has 10 games worth of NHL experience, signed a one-way contract, so he would seem to have the inside track going into training camp, but he’s not the only candidate.

23-year-old goaltender Niklas Svedberg is coming off a great season where he recorded a 2.17 GAA and .925 save percentage in 48 games with Providence. Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has confirmed that Svedberg will get a shot to win the number two spot, according to the team’s Twitter account.

Malcolm Subban, 19, would be an exciting candidate, but the Bruins aren’t looking to rush him to the NHL. He will start the 2013-14 season in the AHL after a superb campaign with the OHL Belleville Bulls.