There seems to be a movement among Bruins followers that there is some kind of trade market for backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.
The thinking is that dealing off some salary cap deadwood would free up capital to chase after an unsigned RFA goal-scorer or allow the Bruins to make a deal to strength their NHL roster.
While it’s true there’s always somebody around the NHL actively looking for a goaltending upgrade, the 31-year-old Korpisalo was 11-10-3 with an .893 save percentage in 27 games backing up Jeremy Swayman last season. The year prior to that, Korpisalo posted an .890 save percentage in 55 games for the Ottawa Senators in what was generally described as the worst season for any NHL goalie within that 2023-24 campaign.
Korpisalo had some decent early moments for the Black and Gold last season and probably deserved more playing time at points during the year behind a flailing Swayman, a point that he candidly discussed after the season had concluded.
“At the end of the day you want to win, you know? Of course, I don't think there's any goalie in the league who's really comfortable playing 20 to 25 games,” said Korpisalo. “So I'm going to push for more games, for sure, and we'll see what happens. I'll do my best, and we’ll see.”
But eventually he sank into the muck backstopping a hockey team that didn’t seem particularly interested in playing defense, and really was near the bottom of the league in just about every statistical category imaginable.
Joonas Korpisalo DROPKICKED the puck in frustration 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/SGbcrAfyVp
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 18, 2025
On top of all that, Korpisalo is signed for three more years at a $3 million cap hit that’s a bit extravagant for a backup goaltender, even a veteran netminder who’s got over 300 games of NHL experience as Korpisalo does at this point.
The point is that the performance combined with the cap hit/contract makes Korpisalo close to untradable at this point until his play on the ice gets markedly better, and even then it’s doubtful a team isn’t going to take on the goaltender’s contract unless there’s a draft pick sweetener involved or the B’s swallowing some of the money.
In other words, it is much closer to fantasy than reality that the B’s could deal Korpisalo for cap space, and a player like Casey Mittelstadt is even more deeply entrenched in that category with the Bruins holding roughly $2 million in cap space at this point.
Some of the “deal Korpisalo” chatter is also a result of Michael DiPietro’s status with the team as well. The 26-year-old was the AHL goaltender of the year this past season while posting a 26-8-5 record with a .927 save percentage and was just as effective during the Calder Cup playoffs for the P-Bruins as well.
DiPietro signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Bruins despite currently being blocked at the NHL level by Swayman and Korpisalo, and there is genuine concern that the Bruins will lose this talented young netminder when they have to clear him through waivers at the end of NHL training camp. It’s legitimate to be worried about losing a bright young asset like DiPietro, but let’s also not forget that fans were similarly concerned about losing Brandon Bussi a season or two ago in the very same set of circumstances.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Bussi has washed out of the Bruins organization and was bypassed by DiPietro as a possible goalie of the future.
Beyond that, it’s clear that the Bruins want to return to their previous goaltending situation when they had a strong tandem where both goalies could push each other for playing time through performance. Swayman and Linus Ullmark were amongst the best goalie combos in the NHL and were a massive team strength, just as the goaltending became a major weak link last season.
The thinking is that elevating Korpisalo slightly could push a Swayman/Korpisalo tandem to a higher level of performance, and bring out the best in both netminders. Certainly, there’s a greater chance of Swayman feeling pushed competitively by an established NHL goaltender like Korpisalo rather than an unproven 26-year-old like DiPietro with just three random NHL appearances for the Vancouver Canucks on his resume.
“Joonas was honest in saying at the end of the year that we probably should have utilized him more when [Swayman] was struggling early in the year, and I’ll be honest in saying I don’t disagree with him…I like the fact that Korpi flatly said he needs to play more, but the performance needs to back that up as well,” said Don Sweeney. “We’ve gone over that as a staff where when a player is playing well, he deserves regardless of who he is.
“In Michael’s case, he had a tremendous year. He was the AHL goalie of the year. We felt him still being young enough, there’s growth potential there as well. He comes and pushes, maybe it makes the decision harder for all of us. But that’s we’re driving for here. It should be uncomfortable. We missed [the playoffs] by a wide margin. We need to be better. So everybody walking through the door should be focused on that while working to come in here in September…we want [Swayman and Korpisalo] to stay competitive and connected in that regard and we want Michael to realize if he’s good enough to play then he should play.”
When Sweeney spoke after free agency a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t sound like a manager that was poised to make cap space-clearing trades, or even somebody that expected his NHL goaltending tandem to be anything but another helping of Swayman/Korpisalo next season.
ONE TIMERS
• The NHL schedule was released this past week and there were several notables for the Black and Gold. The biggest date on the schedule is probably the Feb. 1 Stadium Series game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Raymond James Stadium, but it’s followed closely behind by the Bruins road tilt against the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Saturday, Nov. 8 that should also be Hockey Hall of Fame weekend where Zdeno Chara will be inducted into the Hall along with Jack Parker, Jumbo Joe Thornton and a number of other puck luminaries.
The Bruins will also be once again hosting a Black Friday matinee against the New York Rangers at TD Garden with a 1 pm start on Friday afternoon in a game that’s traditionally one of the most family-friendly tickets of the B’s season.
The Bruins will open the season on the road taking on Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals on Wednesday, Oct. 8 and will have a season-opening back-to-back with their home opener on Thursday, Oct. 9 against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden.
• Bruins finished up all family business this past week when they signed RFA John Farinacci to a one-year, two-way deal with an NHL cap hit of $750,000. The 23-year-old Farinacci had 10 goals and 38 points in 58 games for the Providence Bruins last season and scored in his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils capping off a pretty solid season for the two-way center and former Harvard standout.
It remains to be seen what kind of NHL opportunities await Farinacci this season with a lot of new bottom-6 faces like Michael Eyssimont, Sean Kuraly and Tanner Jeannot adding to Johnny Beecher, Mark Kastelic and fellow P-Bruins prospects like Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov and Riley Duran among others.
