Joonas Korpisalo’s run in Boston ended up looking a lot better than it did when he first arrived.
The Bruins brought him in during the June 2024 Linus Ullmark trade with the Ottawa Senators, a deal that also sent forward Mark Kastelic to Boston. Korpisalo was the name that raised eyebrows, since Ottawa was eager to move on from him, and Boston general manager Don Sweeney took him anyway along with a draft pick.
His first season with the Bruins got off to a rough start. Jeremy Swayman missed training camp for the 2024-25 season because of his contract dispute, then signed his new deal just before Boston opened against the Florida Panthers in South Florida.
Korpisalo got the start in that game and was shelled. From there, his workload shrank as the season moved along, and he made it clear he wasn’t pleased with how little he was playing.
By 2025-26, though, he was seeing more action under first-year coach Marco Sturm, and he handled it better. Korpisalo appeared in 31 games, after playing in 27 games two years ago, and finished 14-9-6 with a 3.15 goals-against average, an .894 save percentage and one shutout.
He also came through when the Bruins needed him late. In his final four regular-season appearances, he beat the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets, then picked up a point in overtime losses to the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes. Those results helped Boston secure the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 100 points.
Korpisalo’s final appearance in a Bruins sweater came in relief of Swayman during a Game 4 blowout loss to the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden in the first round of the playoffs.
Then came the next move: Korpisalo was traded to the New York Rangers on July 1. That opens the door for Boston to bring up Michael Dipietro to back up Swayman next season. And for all the uncertainty around Korpisalo when the Bruins acquired him, his time in Boston wound up being better than plenty of people expected.
In Other News...
Bruins Just Lost Another Providence Standout Without Getting An Answer
Another familiar Providence name is off the Bruins board, and this one stings a little because Georgii Merkulov had become one of the more reliable offensive drivers in the organizations pipeline. He spent the past four seasons as a steady scoring presence for the Providence Bruins, giving Boston a skilled call-up option and a player who seemed to keep forcing his way into the conversation whenever the prospect pool came up.
Now the Bruins have to sort through what his departure means for a system that is still being evaluated heading into 2026-27. Merkulovs next step comes after a long run in Providence and a brief NHL look, and Boston is left with the same frustrating question that follows a lot of these losses: how much more runway might there have been if the fit had been different? [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Offseason Could Get Even More Painful If Atlantic Rivals Strike
After another first-round playoff exit, the Bruins front office has already made clear that the work ahead is not just about tinkering. President Cam Neely and GM Don Sweeney have both acknowledged the need to add more talent for the 2026-27 season, and while the club has brought in JJ Peterka, there is still a long list of needs to sort through before Boston can feel better about where it stands.
The problem is that the Bruins are not operating in a vacuum. Buffalo and Detroit are both positioned to make meaningful offseason moves of their own, and if either Atlantic Division rival lands the kind of upgrade that changes its ceiling, Bostons path back up the standings only gets tougher. For a team that still needs help down the middle and on the blue line, the margin for error is already thin, and the rest of the division may be about to make it thinner. [Read more 🡒]