Claude Julien wouldn’t say Tuesday morning whether the Bruins would send recently waived goaltender Jeremy Smith to Providence. He would only say that Smith wouldn’t be with the Boston club.
His phrasing made a little more sense Tuesday evening, as the B’s announced that they had loaned Smith to the Iowa Wild, the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.
Though it’s been a surprising few days for Smith, who was expected to be Tuukka Rask‘s backup this season, his assignment to another AHL team under this week’s circumstances makes sense given that Boston already has Malcolm Subban and Zane McIntyre in Providence. Jonas Gustavsson, who came to Bruins camp on a tryout, was signed to a one-year, $700,000 contract on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Smith was signed to a one-year, two-way deal worth $600,000 at the NHL level this summer after a strong performance in Providence last season. He was placed on waivers Monday and went unclaimed, allowing Boston to assign him to the AHL.