There were a lot of decisions that Boston Bruins fans were interested in this past summer. One of the decisions that general manager Don Sweeney and the rest of the front office needed to make was between the pipes. No, not with Jeremy Swayman, but who was going to be his backup when the season begins.
Was Sweeney going to trade Joonas Korpisalo, or were the Bruins going to risk losing youngster Michael DiPietro? The most logical decision was to trade Korpisalo to both open up cap space and open up a roster spot. In the end, that's what ended up happening when Korpisalo was traded to the New York Rangers.
Now, DiPietro, acquired from the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Jack Studnicka trade in October of 2022, now has a chance to earn the backup job for Swayman this winter. Unless something crazy happens, expect it to be the case, and he has already had some big expectation dropped on him ahead of training camp officially opening.
Michael DiPietro gets lofty expectations going into 2026-27 season
Jesse Granger of The Athletic listed eight potential breakout netminders for the upcoming season and DiPietro made the list.
"DiPietro has been the best goalie in the AHL for two straight years, and last season joined Calgary’s Dustin Wolf as the only goalies in the last 22 years to win the league MVP. His ridiculous .930 save percentage and sub-2.0 goals-against average scream that he’s ready for the next level, and now he should get that opportunity,'' wrote Granger.
Last season for the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL), DiPietro went 34-8-1 after going 26-8-4 in 2024-25. He took over the starting duties from Brandon Bussi, and when it came to deciding which player to bring back last summer, the Bruins chose DiPietro over Bussi.
Now, DiPietro was someone who drew a lot of interest around the NHL last season, and he needed waivers to get to the AHL, and he made it. Bussi signed with the Florida Panthers in free agency and was placed on waivers by Florida, only to be scooped up by the Carolina Hurricanes, where he had a breakout season backboned a run to winning the Stanley Cup over the Vegas Golden Knights last June.
Boston couldn't afford to lose DiPietro this season, and the one way to make sure they didn't was to trade Korpisalo to open up a roster spot for him. Now, he'll get his shot to make the Opening Night roster and play his first NHL season, with some expectations that not a lot of people saw coming.
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