Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was simply fantastic during the playoffs on the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final. With that dominating performance heading into a summer he’d be a restricted free agent, re-signing the Finnish netminder became a pretty important task for the B’s.
Many fans and pundits feel that the Bruins’ most important offseason task is re-signing the goalie, and that’s a point of view shared by Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli. The GM spoke to the media Wednesday, just a couple of days before free agency is set to begin, and he expressed confidence on getting a new deal done with Rask.
“I feel confident that we will get a deal done on Rask in short order,” Chiarelli said.
Chiarelli said he has a salary number in mind for Rask, which should allow the Bruins to operate as normal when free agency gets underway Friday. The general manager said he’s so confident in re-signing Rask that he’ll operate with that Rask number in mind as he works against the salary cap, which is going down for the 2013-14 season.
“I would think [a deal would be done] before [Friday],” Chiarelli said, “but if it’s after I’m fine with it to. I know he would enter free agency but I’m confident regardless, either or.”
