Bruins Will Try To Extend Tuukka During Season
BOSTON (CBS) - With the way Tuukka Rask has been playing in net, it should come as no surprise the Boston Bruins want to make sure he's their goalie of the future.
Rask, currently playing on a one-year, $3.5-million deal he signed last June, has thrived since becoming the Bruins number-one netminder, posting a 6-1-1 record and a .966 save percentage.
On Thursday, the Bruins dealt Tim Thomas -- who is sitting out the 2013 season -- to the New York Islanders, so now there is little doubt that Rask is their guy.
And in very un-Bruin fashion, general manager Peter Chiarelli said he would like to work out an extension with the 25-year-old netminder sooner rather than later.
"Breaching my own policy [of not discussing contracts], we will bring up talks with Tuukka at some point in this season, in hoping to extend him," Chiarelli said Thursday night according to CSNNE's Joe Haggerty.
"Nothing is imminent and I can leave it at that," Chiarelli added. "[The Thomas trade] has kind of been in the works for a while and it just coincidental that Tuukka had a terrific game [Wednesday against the Canadiens]."
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"I know the perception looks like one follows the other and I was waiting to pull the trigger based on a great game by Tuukka. We've been pretty open with Tuukka and Tim as far as when we would see them ending up, I call it a succession plan," he said.
Rask certainly was brilliant against the Habs on Wednesday, allowing just one of the 21 shots that went his way to beat him (and even that one was tipped in by the Bruins themselves). That performance came off the heels of a 21-save shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, Rask's first shutout of the season.
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Rask is one of the main reasons the Bruins are off to their 7-1-1 start this season, allowing just one goal in four of his eight outings. There were some questions heading into the season if Rask would be able to handle the load, but so far he's proven any doubts wrong.
And he may soon have a lot of money to show for it.
