Boston Bruins backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo hasn’t requested a trade, despite his comments at the end of the season.
Korpisalo was acquired last offseason from the Ottawa Senators in the trade that sent goalie Linus Ullmark to the Sens. Korpisalo went from being the Senators’ starter to being Boston’s backup, which was a role he wasn’t happy about.
However, despite his displeasure with the role, Korpisalo’s agent Markus Lehto revealed the goalie hasn’t requested a trade.
“There is no truth to that; Joonas loves it in Boston,” Lehto replied in an email to RG.org when asked if there was any truth to the rumor that his client had asked out of the Bruins.
Korpisalo has three years left on his five-year, $20 million deal. Despite him being under contract for three more years, Boston went out and signed goalie Michael DiPietro to a two-year, one-way contract.
Although Korpisalo hasn’t requested a trade, NHL insider James Murphy of RG.org reports that the Bruins have gotten trade calls on him.
“They got calls and I know that,” a trusted NHL source told RG in April. “What materialized and how far, I can’t tell you, but there was some interest.”
Korpisalo went 11-10-3 with a 2.90 GAA and a .893 SV% last season with Boston.
Korpisalo Vented his Frustration About his Role With Bruins
After a disappointing season for not only the Bruins but also Korpisalo, who vented his frustration with his role.
Korpisalo felt like he deserved to start more games, and at his locker cleanout day, the goalie made it clear he wasn’t happy with his role.
“I don’t think there’s any goalie in the league who’s really comfortable playing 20 to 25 games,” Korpisalo said on April 17. “So I’m going to push for more games, and we’ll see what happens. I was pretty open when I got into the season. And always, you just try to put everything you have out there, make your mark to gain some playing time.”
Korpisalo is a one-time NHL All-Star, and when Jeremy Swayman was struggling, he felt like he deserved some starts.
Bruins GM Explains Signing of DiPietro
Despite Boston having a one-two punch of Swayman and Korpisalo in the net, the Bruins signed DiPietro as a potential third goalie.
The signing caught some by surprise, as they felt like it could lead to Korpisalo being traded. However, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney opened up on the signing.
“Again, Joonas was honest at the end of the year in saying that he believed we should’ve used him more, especially when Jeremy was struggling, and I was honest that I didn’t disagree with him,” Sweeney said on July 1.
“We’ve gone over that as a staff and agreed that when a player is playing well enough, he deserves the net regardless of who it is,” Sweeney added. “In Michael’s case, he had a tremendous year and was the AHL goalie of the year. We felt that him still being young enough, there’s growth potential in Michael as well. If Michael comes and pushes, maybe it makes the decision even harder for all of us internally, but that’s what we’re driving. It should be uncomfortable. We missed by a wide margin.”
DiPietro has appeared in 3 NHL games, all with the Vancouver Canucks, but hasn’t appeared in one since January 23, 2022.
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