Malcolm Subban makes a save in pre-season. (Photo Panagiotakis/Icon Sportswire)
The situation might not come up exactly in the near future, but one day this may be the road the Boston Bruins have to take. The Bruins 2012 first-round draft pick Malcolm Subban (brother of P.K.) is projected to be a very good goaltender in the NHL someday.
So why would the Bruins want to trade him? Well Tuukka Rask, the NHL’s Vezina trophy winner, has just started year two of his eight year contract with the Boston Bruins. Meaning with the amount of money the Bruins are paying him (over 50 million dollars) they have a lot of faith in the Bruin goaltender to get them through the next seven seasons.
Let’s just say Tuukka indeed finishes out his contract in Boston as the Bruins starting goaltender, and even if that so happens to be Tuukka’s final season in Boston that would make Malcolm about 29 years old. Now with somebody with as much potential as Subban has why would he wait around to take over the starting job? Of course there’s a chance he could forcefully take the position from Rask, but don’t count on that being something the Bruins would want to see. Tuukka will be making about eight million dollars a season. So the Bruins find themselves in a bit of a pickle having drafted Subban with their first round pick, and signing their current Vezina winning trophy goaltender to an eight year deal.
Boston is a big city, not big enough for both of these goaltenders. When Subban is able to make the full time jump to the NHL he will undoubtedly make a pretty big splash. It seems as if a change for one of these men is in order. The Bruins can either choose to bread Subban further for the NHL, and risk seeing how good he is, potentially building up his trade value – or lowering it. They can also choose to trade him while he’s still a potential star down in Providence.
During this past offseason this wouldn’t really be up for debate. However, the Bruins poor play so far this season and unusual play as well from Rask has left the fan-base grumbling through this first portion of the season.
Let’s be real though. Tuukka will bounce back when Chara and the rest of his fallen teammates return, the Bruins will right the ship and improve this year. Tuukka Rask is the Bruins future the next six seasons.
Controversy always surrounds trading a young player with a lot of potential. This is a move the Bruins will have to make sometime in the near future. The Bruins can use Subban as the perfect chip to acquire what they desperately need at a trade-deadline.
Stats for thought
Tuukka Rask: Save % this season is just .912, a considerable drop from last year’s .930
Malcolm Subban: The 20 year old has only appeared in 10 games this season. His save % sits a.917. In 33 games last year Malcolm posted a .920 percentage.
