Bruins Believe Maxime Legace Provides Needed Goalie Depth

The Boston Bruins lost AHL goalie Zane McIntyre who signed with the Vancouver Canucks Monday shortly after NHL free agency began. That left the Bruins with a hole in their net, figuratively speaking. Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak are firmly entrenched as the top-two netminders, but the Bruins lacked a recall option and starter for AHL Providence.

Enter Maxime Legace.

Monday, the former Golden Knight agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Bruins. His NHL salary is $700,000, while his minor league salary has yet to be reported. He will earn the minor league portion of his salary as the starter for Providence, however, injuries have a nasty habit of being a factor during the NHL season. And if they are, the Bruins are confident in Legace’s ability to wear an NHL sweater should he be needed.

“Max has some NHL experience,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said. “That was one of the caveats we would like to have and the box we would like to check.”

A veteran of 17 NHL games over the last two seasons with Vegas, Legace had that qualification not many others had for the role.

Legace has also played all around the minors, having spent time in the AHL and ECHL with multiple organizations. Sweeney appreciates those experiences.

“He’s played for a couple of different organizations,” Sweeney pointed out. “Everybody spoke very highly of his approach to the game. We basically told Max that he can complement our top two guys, push our top two guys when we run into trouble because he has that NHL experience, but most importantly our younger guys have to take the net from him.”

Sweeney expects Legace to add a level of competition to Providence that won’t just keep the veteran locked in, but also push the young netminders in Boston’s system.

“He’s been in situations where he’s been the go-to guy with a couple of different clubs in the American Hockey League, and our younger goaltenders need to understand they will have an opportunity, but they need to take the net from a guy who has it without being blocked out, obviously,” Sweeney said.