Report: Bruins not expecting Tuukka Rask to resume NHL career

Tuukka Rask may have played his last game in the NHL.

Rask attempted to make a comeback this season with the Boston Bruins and appeared in four games, but according to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, the team doesn’t expect him to resume his career.

“Rask is discussing his future with his family,” Shinzawa wrote, citing two sources. “He may finalize his retirement decision in the next few days.”

The 34-year-old had off-season hip surgery and entered the season unsigned. After slowly working his way back, he signed a one-year, $1-million contract on Jan. 11 and made his first start two days later.

However, sources told Shinzawa that Rask continued to feel discomfort. His last start was Jan. 22 against the Winnipeg Jets, and he backed up Linus Ullmark against the Colorado Avalanche a couple of days later but has not appeared in uniform since.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the report following Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I think that’s for Tuukka to comment on his stature,” Cassidy told reporters. “I was told he wouldn’t practise this week. I don’t think that’s changing at all. So if he has something to say, I think I’ll leave it to him.”

If this is the end for Rask, he steps away as one of the greatest goalies in franchise history. His 544 starts and 308 wins both rank first on the team’s all-time leaderboard, and he won the Vezina Trophy in 2014. He backed up Tim Thomas when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011, and he twice led the team to the Stanley Cup Final as a starter in 2013 and 2019.

“For us as players when you have a team like the Bruins, basically a bunch of us have grown up together. So, you kind of feel that brotherhood. You don’t want to leave guys on bad terms,” Rask said in early January. “I just wanted to come back and maybe be helpful and try to finish it out with a bunch of those guys I’ve played with my whole career.”

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