As Tuukka Rask Gets Set for Bruins Return, Jeremy Swayman is Looking His Best

Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman picked an interesting time to play his best.

The 23-year-old had been solid in the net for the Bruins through October and November. He was good enough, but nothing outstanding. While he wasn’t letting in soft goals, he wasn’t stealing games either. He was average.

Recently, Tuukka Rask has been back at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Massachusetts. He’s been practicing with Bruins staff. He even served as the emergency backup goaltender in a practice on Dec. 6. All signs point to Rask returning to the Bruins somewhat soon.

In the event Rask comes back to the Bruins, the most likely outcome is Swayman being sent down to Providence. That would created a goalie tandem of Rask and Linus Ullmark up at the NHL, while also allowing Swayman to still get lots of reps at the AHL level.

Swayman may not go so easy.

Since the calendar flipped to December, Swayman has stopped 94 of 98 shots. He’s the reason the Bruins earned a 2-0 win over Nashville on Dec. 2, and he’s the reason they earned a point in both their games against the Lightning and the Canucks.

Conor Ryan and I discussed that on the latest Poke the Bear podcast. We talked about how the Bruins should handle this situation.

We also chatted about why the Bruins must break up their first line and what necessary changes must be made.

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