The Boston Bruins are in a bind with goaltender Jeremy Swayman still unsigned with less than a week left before opening night. Joonas Koripsalo will be the starting goalie in net for Boston on October 8, but the backup position is still in some doubt. On Wednesday, the Bruins claimed a potential option in Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jiri Patera. Patera signed a two-year, two-way deal in Vancouver to initially serve as their No. 3 option behind Thatcher Demko and Arturs Silvos, but he had slipped to fourth on the depth chart late in the summer. Patera was still projected to start the season as their third-stringer, with Demko set to start the year on the shelf with a continuing knee injury, but became more expendable with the veteran Kevin Lankinen in the fold.
The Bruins have Brandon Bussi in the minors, but the 26-year-old has had an up-and-down preseason. On Tuesday, Bussi made 13 saves and looked sharper in a 4-1 win over Philadelphia. With the addition of Patera, the Bruins’ American Hockey League affiliate Providence Bruins will have Bussi and Michael DiPietro for another season and insurance if Patera does not work out.
The 25-yeard-old Patera has played eight total games in the NHL with the Vegas Golden Knights, who drafted the Czech native in the sixth round of the 2017 draft. Patera has a 3-3-1 record with a 3.57 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound netminder spent parts of three seasons with the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL and posted an 11-10-4 record with a 2.99 goals against average and a .902 save percentage during the 2023-24 season.
The Bruins have been at a stalemate with Swayman in contract negotiations and have indicated that they are willing to go to the December 1 deadline before agreeing on a deal. Without Swayman, who performed very well during the postseason but had been involved in a goalie rotation with former teammate Linus Ullmark, the Bruins will rely on Kopisalo to be the number-one goaltender.
The Bruins can either sign Patera to be the backup in Boston or send him through waivers if they want to send him to Providence if unclaimed.
