Tuukka Rask’s scheduled run with the P-Bruins has been scrapped
The plan to get Tuukka Rask up to game speed down in the minors is off to a rough start for the Bruins.
In fact, it may not get off the ground at all.
Down in Providence for what both sides hoped would be a ‘one or two-game’ run with the P-Bruins, Rask and the Bruins find themselves back to square one following the AHL’s decision to postpone the upcoming home series against Lehigh Valley.
Due to league COVID-19 protocols affecting the @LVPhantoms, their games Friday and Sunday at Providence have been rescheduled for April 11 and April 19. pic.twitter.com/UYZGNklXI5
— AHL Communications (@AHLPR) January 6, 2022
“I don’t know,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy admitted after Thursday’s game when asked what the plan becomes for the 34-year-old goalie. “I found out tonight [that] the games got canceled this weekend and I was focusing on Minnesota, so I have no idea what will be going on. We’re going to fly to Tampa [Friday], hopefully, weather permitting. I can give you an update, hopefully tomorrow in a media session or the next day what Donny’s discussed with his representative and Tuukka.
“But I honestly don’t know what what he’ll do going forward, [but] I do not believe he’ll travel with us.”
The Bruins could effectively delay Rask’s stint in Providence by a week, as the P-Bruins are currently slated to host home games against Hartford and Bridgeport next Friday and Sunday. Or they could decide that Rask can skip the minor-league assignment and rejoin the Bruins after another hard week of practice and with an increasingly-packed schedule ahead of ’em.
With a contract yet to be signed (players on pro tryouts cannot appear in NHL games), and with the sides still looking to get a read on Rask’s readiness, the former would seem to be of more interest to the Bruins for obvious reasons.
But the AHL schedule will need to cooperate to make it all happen.
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