The Boston Bruins’ crease will look a little different for the 2026-27 season, and that seems to be the only guaranteed part of the lineup as it’s currently constructed.
On July 1, the Bruins shipped out goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for a fourth-round pick and a minor-league forward. The move frees up the NHL backup role, and Don Sweeney pointed to Michael DiPietro as the primary reason why the trade happened.
“Yeah, primarily why,” the Bruins GM said when asked a few hours after the trade. “We just feel that Michael has earned this opportunity, and he comes in, not that Michael is ever going to worry about looking over his shoulder to say the truth. It’s just a real good opportunity for him now to come in and take the last two years in particular and apply it to the National Hockey League. You’re never going to know unless you get that opportunity, and at some point in time, the team has to provide it.”
Sweeney honed in on the last two years specifically, which were the two best of DiPietro’s career. He set a career-high with 26 AHL wins in 2024-25, finished with a 2.05 goals against average (GAA) and a .927 save percentage (SV%). He won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Trophy for the best AHL goaltender.
That summer, DiPietro signed a two-year deal with the Bruins with a cap hit of $812,500. DiPietro was a pending Group 6 UFA and had been generating interest around the league; ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported that teams were circling his name before free agency opened.
DiPietro competed for the backup spot during the preseason, but it was Korpisalo’s job to lose, and he did not. The Bruins placed DiPietro on waivers, but no teams filed a claim. After that, he returned to Providence and shattered his career-highs. He finished with a 34-8-1 record, 1.91 GAA, and .930 SV%. He not only won his second consecutive Bastien Trophy, but also picked up AHL MVP honors.
“We’re convinced in our confidence level of Michael and the body of work that he’s put in, the work that he’s put in, deserved the opportunity,” said Sweeney. “He’s going to have to take advantage of it. Obviously, Jiri Patera is coming in, he’s got some NHL experience. Simon [Zajicek]’s played well in the American Hockey League, so we feel comfortable with the depth of our goaltending.”
Patera is the only goalie behind DiPietro with NHL experience, though it is limited to just nine games.
DiPietro has played in four.
He got two starts during his time with the Canucks, and briefly relieved the starter in another two games during his NHL career. He made his Bruins debut on February 26, 2026, but only played for 6:03 after Korpisalo was pulled by the concussion spotter.
DiPietro has spent the last few seasons proving his worth in Providence, and with nothing left to prove, it’s his time to get a shot in the NHL.
Several goaltenders have graduated from Providence in recent years, though not all have stuck around with the black and gold. Sweeney pointed to that track record, and the two goalie coaches, when explaining the Bruins’ trust in DiPietro.
“[Dan] Vladar is an NHL goaltender, just signed a long-term extension. We moved off of that when we were in this pivot point of [Jeremy Swayman] and he, not necessarily either one of them had it at that time,” Sweeney said. “Brandon [Bussi], congratulations to him, he’s won the Stanley Cup. So we’ve been in this position, we’ve looked at it, and Bob [Essensa] and [Mike Dunham] in particular, they feel really confident Michael is ready for this.”
Bob Essensa has been the Bruins’ goaltending coach for the last 23 years, and Mike Dunham has been with the organization as the goaltender development coach since 2017. They have a proven track record, whether it be developing AHL goaltenders or working with the ones playing on Causeway, and they have been working with DiPietro since he was acquired in October 2022.
In front of DiPietro is the goaltender who finished third in Vezina Trophy voting during the 2025-26 season. We witnessed a bounce-back-to-form year for Jeremy Swayman. He started in four fewer games than he did during a rocky 2024-25 season, but proved he is capable of handling a larger workload next season.
That benefits DiPietro, while also taking the onus off of the new guy. Joonas Korpisalo was a proven NHL goaltender, and he had a reason behind wanting more starts in the 2025-26 season. That’s not the case for the 27-year-old, which puts the Bruins in a position to ease DiPietro into his new role.
DiPietro spent the last few seasons proving he deserved an NHL opportunity. The Bruins acquired him in October 2022, and nearly four years later traded away a veteran backup to clear a path for him. It’s up to DiPietro to turn his dominant AHL play into meaningful NHL minutes, and Sweeney knows he will not be looking over his shoulder while it happens.