Bruins make franchise-altering trade with the Maple Leafs
On this day, 16 years ago, the Boston Bruins made a blockbuster trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs that would change both franchises for many years to come.
On June 24th, 2006, the Bruins traded goaltender Andrew Raycroft to the Maple Leafs in exchange for goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask. The trade was made by the interim general manager at the time, Jeff Gorton:
Rask, who was just 19 years old at the time, was Toronto's first-round pick (21st overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. The youngster had no NHL experience and had played the last three seasons in Finland with the Ilves Tampere Junior team.
Raycroft was drafted by the Bruins 135th overall in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and had spent his entire 5-year career with the club. He won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year in 2004. The 26-year-old's career NHL totals included a 43-46-12 record, 2.62 GAA and three shutouts in 108 career games.
Tuukka Rask has set these records with the Boston Bruins:
- Most games played by a goaltender in Boston Bruins history.
- Most wins by a goaltender in franchise history.
- Most shutouts in playoff series-clinching games in franchise history.
- Longest season-opening home-point streak in Boston Bruins history.
- Most playoff wins by a goaltender in franchise history
Andrew Raycroft only spent the next two seasons with Toronto before making multiple stops with the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars. He appeared in 81 games over the last four seasons of his career.
