Bruins Sign Goalie Tuukka Rask To 8-Year Deal
BOSTON (CBS) - It's going to be "Tuukka Time" for a long time in Boston.
The Bruins locked up goaltender Tuukka Rask to an-eight year contract on Wednesday. Rask's salary is worth an annual cap hit of $7 million.
Rask proved he was up to the challenge of being a number-one goalie last season, going 19-10 with a 2.00 Goals Against Average in the lockout shortened regular season. He took his game to the next level in the playoffs -- going 14-8 with a 1.88 GAA and .940 save percentage. He also had three shutouts in the playoffs -- two in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins and in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.
One of Rask's more impressive games of the playoffs came in a Bruins loss, when he made 59 saves in Boston's 4-3, triple overtime loss to the Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Cup Final. It was his second 50+ save performance of the postseason, also stopping 53 shots in Boston's 2-1, double overtime win over the Penguins in Game 3 of the East Finals.
Rask, just 26, is a career 66-45 with a 2.15 GAA and .927 save percentage in the regular season, and 21-14 with a 2.14 GAA and .930 save percentage in the playoffs.
Rask was drafted 21st overall in the 2005 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who traded his rights to Boston in June 2006 for goaltender Andrew Raycroft.
