Neely Believes Rask And Krejci Want To Remain Boston Bruins

Do David Krejci and Tuukka Rask want to finish their respective careers as Boston Bruins?

Boston Bruins team President Cam Neely certainly thinks so. Both Rask and Krejci are on expiring contracts and while contract talks between the team and the camps for both players have mutually been put on hold until after the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Neely told the media Tuesday that he would expect both longtime Boston Bruins to want to remain Bruins if they choose to keep playing.

“I haven’t talked to them myself personally about that, I kind of let the season go along and just let them focus on playing this year,” Neely said in a Zoom call. “My guess is that they would. I think they both would probably like to finish their careers are Boston Bruins, so let’s see what happens this off-season. But there’s something to be said about playing for one organization and right now, that’s what it’s looking like for both Tuukka [Rask] and David [Krejci].

Well, we’ll have to see how we can make things work. Again, we want to get through this season, see how things play out. We’ll go from there. The way that Tuukka’s played for his career here is pretty impressive. I mean, now he’s a leader in not only regular-season wins but in playoff wins. And David Krejci always seems to elevate his game in the playoffs. He’s done it before and he’s doing it again now. We’ll go from there once the season’s over.”

With his 19-save performance in a 4-1 Boston Bruins win in Game 4 of the first-round series the Bruins just won over the Washington Capitals, goalie Tuukka Rask surpassed hall of famer Gerry Cheevers to become the winningest playoff goalie in franchise history. Rask, who already holds the team record for most regular-season wins (306), now has 55 wins in the postseason. The 34-year-old netminder got better as the five-game series with the Capitals went on and had his best game in Game 5 as he allowed just one goal on 41 shots to help the B’s eliminate the Caps. He enters the second round with a record of 4-1, a 1.81 GAA and .941 save percentage.

“Well, first of all, I think he’s been extremely dialed in this past series,” Neely said of Rask. “I thought he played really well. He was very poised. He was very square to the puck, in my opinion. I thought he handled rebounds really well. And he got out and played some pucks, which certainly helps the defensemen. Both Tuukka and our camp said we would table everything for the season to see how things go and get a better sense after the season’s over for how Tuukka is feeling, both mentally and physically, and we’ll go from there.”