Bruins recall goalie Niklas Svedberg

AHL Providence Bruins goalie Niklas Svedberg

The Bruins have recalled goalie Niklas Svedberg from Providence (AHL) today. In the AHL this season, Svedberg has a 11-5-3 record with a 2.91 GAA and a .907 save percentage with 1 shutout. He was named "AHL Goalie of the Year" in 2012-2013.

Bruins Tuukka Rask is supposed to get the start tonight against the Ottawa Senators and Svedberg will be backing up Rask as goalie Chad Johnson will be a healthy scratch. With this call-up, if Svedberg plays well this could mean the end of Chad Johnson being the backup as Johnson has been shaky in most of his games this season, especially with the bad wrap-around goals he's given up in his last few games.

He's set to dress up as the backup goaltender on Friday night against Ottawa, with Tuukka Rask the expected starter (and Chad Johnson a healthy scratch).

"We’re going to have a look at him in the next little while here," Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien told media following pregame skate. "Not tonight, but maybe tomorrow or the game after. I think he’s earned that. We told him that after having such a good camp, that we’d bring him up at some point and give him some games so that’s what we’re doing right now."

"We don’t bring guys up just to practice. If we bring them up, it’s to hopefully give them a game…we’ll play him at some point."

With Svedberg's NHL debut now on the horizon, the mantra for the netminder this season has been to keep trying to earn this opportunity.

"You want to work hard to get the chance up here and sometimes that’s what you try to do," said Svedeberg.

"You just have to keep working on your game every day. It’s so little, the changes, so you just try to stick to your game all the time."

Svedberg was vying for the backup role with Chad Johnson during training camp and the preseason. Johnson would have been subject to waivers, and Svedberg wasn't. The 24-year-old was released from camp to Providence, where he would get into more game action and it would benefit his development. Johnson is 6-2-0 in his eight starts for the Bruins this season.

"They both had strong camps," General Manager Peter Chiarelli had said on September 28, after releasing Svedberg. "Just on a per minute played basis, Nik played better, but Chad played well…So it gives me a comfort they played well over the course of camp. That means we have some depth there."
Source: bruins.nhl.com