Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask is expected to abandon his comeback with the team and “may finalize his retirement decision” in the coming days, The Athletic reported Tuesday night.
Rask, who turns 35 next month, has spent his entire NHL career with Boston, spanning parts of 15 seasons.
A free agent after the 2020-21 season, Rask needed hip surgery and only began his rehab in November. Knowing he could not play for some time, the Bruins did not sign him back for cap reasons and went ahead with rookie Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark in net.
Boston signed Rask to an AHL tryout contract on Jan. 6 and a one-year NHL deal five days later. But in four starts, Rask allowed 14 goals on 90 shots.
He was placed on injured reserve with hip discomfort and has not played since Jan. 24. The Athletic’s report said that physically, he did not feel as good as he’d hoped he would when he returned to game action.
Rask backed up Tim Thomas on the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup-winning team. After Thomas’ retirement, Rask led the Bruins to two more Stanley Cup Finals appearances in 2013 and 2019, losing both.
In 564 career games for the Bruins (543 starts), Rask compiled a 308-165-66 record with a lifetime save percentage of .921, a goals-against average of 2.28 and 52 shutouts. He won the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s top goaltender, in 2014 and was runner-up for the award in 2020.
–Field Level Media
