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Bruins charting the progress of goalie prospect Malcolm Subban

2012 NHL Entry Draft - Round One

during Round One of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at Consol Energy Center on June 22, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Justin K. Aller

Like most young goalies moving from the world of junior hockey to the professional levels, Malcolm Subban possesses raw skill and ability. Now it’s a matter of developing that skill and adding the quality of better positional play, which is happening right now in the American Hockey League.

Subban, the Boston Bruins’ first-round pick, 24th overall, in the 2012 NHL Draft, has played in 21 games this season with the Providence Bruins, and is among the top-10 AHL goalies in goals-against average (2.27) and save percentage (.921).

The NHL Bruins, even with some solid goaltenders ahead of the 20-year-old Subban in Tuukka Rask and Chad Johnson, like what they’ve seen from their young puck-stopping prospect down in the minors. But plenty of work still lies ahead.

“There are some areas technically Bob (Essensa, the B’s goalie coach) has been working with him. I think overall the adjustment to the pro game has been a bit of an eye-opener at times for him,” Bruins’ assistant general manager Don Sweeney told The Boston Herald.

“His athleticism is pretty natural and he relies on it heavily. I think Bob is tweaking things to try to get him to be a little more technical — allow pucks to hit him, rather than being explosive on every save.”

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