The Bruins’ goalie room got a little more crowded Wednesday. No, Jeremy Swayman is not back. He remains unsigned. But Boston did claim 25-year-old Jiri Patera off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canucks signed Patera to a two-year deal with a $775,000 average annual value this summer, but waived him on Tuesday after not playing him in a single preseason game.
The 6-foot-3 Czech native previously spent time in the Vegas Golden Knights organization, appearing in eight NHL games (seven starts) over the last two seasons with a 3-3-1 record and .902 save percentage. He has also played 85 career AHL games, posting an overall record of 37-40-6 with a 2.92 goals against average and .907 save percentage.
Patera gives the Bruins more depth in net as they get closer and closer to starting the regular season without Swayman. What really makes this interesting is that the Bruins cannot send Patera to AHL Providence unless they put him on waivers and he clears. In that scenario, though, the Canucks would have the right to just reclaim him.
So, Patera will be with Boston for the time being and will seemingly get a chance to compete with Brandon Bussi for the backup job behind Joonas Korpisalo. Bussi would also need to clear waivers in order to be sent down to Providence.
Patera won’t have a whole lot of time to make a good impression before the regular season begins on Tuesday. The Bruins have two more preseason games on Thursday and Saturday, morning skates on both days, and a pair of practices scheduled for Friday and Monday.
Bussi struggled in his first two preseason games, but played better in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Flyers. He only faced 14 shots, but made two great saves on point-blank chances in the third period to help close out the win.
“I thought Bussi was really good tonight,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “I thought he read the plays well. I thought he was aggressive. He was moving well. … The save on [Anthony] Richard, it was important at that moment in the game.”