Bruins add another goalie to camp roster

Bruins

Patera has appeared in eight NHL games with the Vegas Golden Knights.

As the Bruins continue to try to bridge the gap in contract talks with Jeremy Swayman, Boston added another goalie to the depth chart on Wednesday.

Boston announced that it claimed goalie Jiri Patera off waivers from the Canucks, giving the team another young goalie with NHL reps to evaluate ahead of regular-season play next week. 

The 25-year-old Patera signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Canucks in July, but was placed on waivers by Vancouver on Tuesday. 

Patera has spent most of his career with the Golden Knights after getting drafted by Vegas in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Draft. 

While Patera spent most of his tenure in Vegas with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, he does have eight NHL appearances under his belt, including seven starts. 

Over those eight outings with Vegas during the past two seasons, Patera sported a 3-3-1 record and a .902 save percentage. He appeared in eight games for the Golden Knights in 2023-24, going 1-3-1 with an .893 save percentage.

Patera spent most of last season in Henderson, putting together an 11-10-4 record and .903 save percentage over 25 games against AHL competition. 

While the Bruins have committed to Joonas Korpisalo as the expected opening-night starter against Florida on Oct. 8, it remains to be seen who slots in as Boston’s backup netminder on this reworked goalie grouping.

The odds-on favorite has been rookie Brandon Bussi, who submitted a bounce-back performance during Thursday’s preseason win over the Flyers with 13 saves on 14 shots. 

But the 26-year-old Bussi was shaky at times in his first two preseason outings, especially when it came to rebound control. 

Considering that Boston would have to place Patera on waivers once again if they wanted to assign him to Providence — giving Vancouver a chance to reclaim him — there stands a chance that Patera could compete for the backup spot with Bussi. 

But Patera doesn’t exactly have a ton of time to fight for a roster spot with just two preseason games left on the docket on Thursday and Saturday.

Currently, the Bruins have four goalies on their training-camp roster in Korpisalo, Bussi, Patera, and Michael DiPietro.