What goes around comes around, as on Monday morning, the Vancouver Canucks re-claim Jiri Patera from the Boston Bruins. This news comes just four days after the Bruins claimed him from the Canucks.
After the Bruins’ saga with their number one netminder Jeremy Swayman ended on Sunday morning, the Bruins placed Patera on waivers hours later. In the same move, they also decided to send down goaltender Brandon Bussi, leaving Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo as Boston’s tandem heading into the 2024-25 season.
Since Vancouver was the team to claim Patera, and they already placed him on waivers, he can get sent straight to Abbotsford without needing to clear waivers again – that is, if Vancouver was the only team to claim him.
The 25-year-old netminder has just eight games of NHL experience, holding a 3-3-1 record, a 3.57 goals against average (GAA) and a .902 save percentage (S%). Patera was a 2017 sixth-round pick for the Vegas Golden Knights, only ever suiting up for them.
In 85 Americal Hockey League games with the Henderson Silver Knights, Patera holds a 37-40-6 record, 3.04 GAA and a .903 S%. Given the state of the Silver Knights over the past two seasons – failing to record 30 wins in back-to-back seasons and finishing with a sub .445 points percentage – Patera’s numbers look admirable.
The Prague, Czech Republic native signed a two-year, two-way, $1.55 million contract, paying him $775,000 annually with the Vancouver Canucks on July 1. He was an added depth piece as the team lost out on Casey DeSmith and the uncertainty of Thatcher Demko’s health heading into next season.
Patera will head to Abbotsford and compete with Nikita Tolopilo for the starters crease for opening night when they travel to Calgary for a date with the Wranglers on October 11. While Arturs Silovs and Kevin Lankinen will split the workload with the Vancouver Canucks, until Thatcher Demko returns.
