The Vancouver Canucks have officially lost free agent signing Jiri Patera, who signed a two-year, two-way contract with the team on the opening day of NHL free agency on July 1, on waivers to the Boston Bruins.
The Canucks initially signed Patera to be a depth goalie with some NHL experience in the event they would need it, but as time went on and Thatcher Demko’s injury situation became clearer, Patera was no longer enough.
Instead, the Canucks went out and added top free agent goalie Kevin Lankinen after being linked to the Finnish netminder for the majority of the offseason.
So, with Patera quickly becoming surplus to the Canucks’ requirements, the 25-year-old was placed on waivers in order to be assigned to the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL.
The Bruins had other ideas, though, claiming Patera on waivers before that could happen. But why did Boston do this?
Bruins president Cam Neely said in a press conference on Monday that goalie Jeremy Swayman, a restricted free agent currently holding out for a large long-term contract, has “64 million reasons” to be playing for the team this year.
Couple this with the fact that Swayman’s agent, Lewis Gross, blasted the Bruins for this and denied that such an offer was made and that the Bruins have already committed to newcomer Joonas Korpisalo as the opening night starter, and you can see the trouble brewing.
While Bruins goalie prospect Brandon Bussi has won no fewer than 22 games in each of the last two seasons in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, he has yet to appear in even one NHL regular season game.
