It's officially "Tuukka Time" in Boston.
The Boston Bruins signed restricted free agent goaltender Tuukka Rask to a one-year contract on Thursday, officially installing him as the successor to Tim Thomas between the pipes in Boston.
The 25-year-old Rask went 11-8-3 while backing up Thomas in 2011-12, posting a .929 save percentage and a goals-against average of 2.05. He played as part of a tandem with Thomas in 2009-10, going 22-12-5 with a .931 save percentage and 1.97 GAA in the year between Thomas' two Vezina Trophy seasons.
With Thomas having announced his intention to sit out the 2012-13 season, it was expected by some that Rask might get a longer deal to signify his status as a long-term replacement, as he is expected to be. However, Boston's salary cap situation didn't make that kind of deal feasible for the Finnish netminder.
Rask's 2012-13 salary - reported at $3.5 million - leaves Boston with less than $300,000 of space underneath the announced $70.3 million NHL salary cap for next season (which may change in a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Association). The possibility of Thomas being traded to a team that can use his $5 million salary cap hit to get to the salary cap floor has been mentioned, but is hardly a certainty, particularly since Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has shown himself to be patient on the trade market. A long-term contract for Rask will likely involve a higher average annual cap hit than the Bruins can afford for next season, so they're better off waiting until Thomas comes off the books, either via trade or via the expiration of his contract. In the meantime, Rask - who's getting a $2 million raise as it is - gets an opportunity to show the Bruins just how valuable he can be.
Rask is getting paid a great deal of money for a goalie who has never been a full-time starter in the NHL. While the lack of a long-term commitment might not go over well in Boston, it's really the best deal the Bruins can make at the moment, and if Thomas can be moved later on for a skater who can help the Bruins improve, then the deal could be better still.