When every NHL season ends, all front offices are left with decisions that are difficult decisions. When it came to decisions last offseason for Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, it came to a tough one regarding his goaltending.
Was he going to hold onto Joonas Korpisalo and run it back with Jeremy Swayman as his backup, or was he going to turn to prospects Michael DiPietro or Brandon Bussi? Both were pending free agents, and retaining both didn't make sense. In the end, Sweeney signed DiPietro and let Bussi walk in free agency.
Bussi landed on his feet with the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in training camp. When it came to roster cuts, Bussi was placed on waivers. He didn't make it far on waivers as the Carolina Hurricanes, who had goaltending issues in camp, claimed him. What a decision that turned out to be for Rod Brind'Amour's team.
Former Bruins prospect continues to shine early in NHL career
Injuries have haunted the Hurricanes early in the season, and claiming Bussi has turned out to be a tremendous move. After not getting a shot in Boston, he is getting one in Carolina, and he is running with it.
In Saturday night's 6-3 win at home over the Nashville Predators, Bussi turned back 22 of the 25 shots he faced, and he improved to 8-1-0 on the season in his first nine NHL starts. He has won eight straight, and he joins a select group of goalies who have recorded eight wins in their first nine appearances.
PSA: Brandon Bussi is a star pic.twitter.com/GrAI2jHsQM
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 7, 2025
Just how good has Bussi been? He went 135:45 of game time without allowing a goal, which is the franchise's second-longest shutout streak by a first-year goaltender behind Pyotr Kochetkov's 151:26 run in 2022-23 before Nashville's Michael Bunting scored a third-period power-play goal.
In his nine games, Bussi has a 2.21 goals against average and a .903 save percentage with one shutout. To his credit, he is getting an opportunity and taking advantage of it on one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Sometimes you don't know what you have until it's gone.