It appears goaltender Alex Auld will be getting another shot at playing in the NHL this season.
The Phoenix Coyotes traded Auld to the Boston Bruins in exchange for minor league forward Nate DiCasmirro and a fifth round pick in 2009.
Auld began this season with the Phoenix Coyotes but became the odd man out on their goaltender rotation when the club plucked Ilya Bryzgalov off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks over two weeks ago. Auld is on a two-way contract and was demoted to the Coyotes minor league affiliate in San Antonio.
This could prove a good opportunity for Auld to get his once-promising career back on track. He was dealt by the Vancouver Canucks in June 2006 to the Florida Panthers as part of the return for goalie Roberto Luongo, and it was believed he'd have the chance to establish himself as a number one netminder with the Panthers.
Unfortunately Auld struggled with the Panthers and ended up as Ed Belfour's backup for the second half of last season. He signed with the Coyotes this summer as an unrestricted free agent and was part of their goalie tandem along with Mikael Tellqvist until Bryzgalov arrived.
This was a trade the Bruins were forced to make. Veteran starter Manny Fernandez remains sidelined rehabbing his surgically reconstructed knee, and Tim Thomas, who'd admirably carried the load in his stead this season, was injured in a recent game, apparently more seriously than originally believed.
It remains to be seen how long Thomas will be sidelined, but it's apparent the Bruins had no one in their system to suitably back up promising young netminder Tuukka Rask, who has played only two games thus far for the Bruins as Thomas' backup but looked sharp in those appearances.
Rask will now be thrust into the starter's role in the short term, and having Auld there should provide him with an experience backup, which should help take some pressure off the young Finn.
And with his two-way contract, Auld will be affordable to demote should Thomas return to action.
I always liked Auld. He displayed good potential in Vancouver ... a big guy who controlled rebounds and was incredibly composed ... but needed to be able to move a little faster.
I think getting dumped into consecutive shooting galleries in Florida and Phoenix really hurt him. Let's see if he can recover.
In order to avoid the Niedermayer Circus, I've come to this thread. Handy pickup by the Bruins. I was watching the rerun on NESN last night, and the way Thomas sprawled out in the play he was injured brought back horrible memories of Mike Richter's ACL injury. I hope it's not that serious. Thomas is playing like an all-star in his prime right now and that's a crappy way to end the season.
On a bright note, I saw both games Rask played, and he looked very sharp. He's let in six goals to date (including last night's OT winner). Only one was a weak goal, and even then it wasn't the kind of weak goal that breaks a team's back. Of the other five, last night's was an Elias laser, deflected off a Bruins stick and the other four were the result of Bruins penalties.
Even as a Rangers fan (and by default an anti-Bruins fan), I'm glad the Bruins picked up Fernandez. His presence has forced Thomas to pick up his game, which gave him confidence. The vicious cycle of confidence boosting a high-level game continues. Rask sitting on the bench wasn't really a threat so much as it's insurance. The two make a really formidable pair of backstops.
Hopefully Auld will be a good influence on Rask. It'd be nice to see Thomas recover quickly from whatever ails him, but if that recovery is extended over a month or more, Rask and Auld can handle the load as co-starters, I guess.
As an administrative aside, didn't Auld also wear number 40?
A nice pickup, the draft pick was fair. Auld had some good games with Florida, just not consistently. As a Habs fan, I have alot of respect for Tim Thomas and hope he comes back soon. He just seems to keep battling, no matter what the score.
here is my idea spect,
Behind the scenes the ducks KNEW the yotes would claim, BRZ, and there is a deal in place for the yotes to be the receipient of a sucks trade to make room for nieds........
It's really odd how the ducks couldn't get a draft pick for their goalie. Like really isnt' he worth a first rounder? Obviously not to the teams that need a goalie that bad... but one of the teams out there must be willing to cough up a 2nd or 3rd rounder. Wierd as hell.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
