Do the Bruins want to avoid another Brandon Bussi situation?
The hope is that they’ve learned something from the last time they had an impressive AHL goalie in their organization who was pushing for a look in Boston but never got it, stuck behind Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark at the time.
The 27-year-old Bussi played parts of four pro seasons with the Bruins organization after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan and was named the AHL goaltender of the year in his AHL rookie season with a 22-5-4 record and a .924 save percentage.
Bussi did get brief call-ups to serve as the backup when injuries hit the goaltenders in Boston, and eventually he fell out of favor a bit in the B’s organization after they traded for Michael DiPietro, who has been named the AHL goalie of the year in each of the last two years while being blocked by a couple of hefty NHL goalie contracts in Boston.
The rest is history as Bussi signed with the Florida Panthers organization as a free agent last summer and found his way into the NHL backup gig in Carolina after he was claimed on waivers from the Panthers. Bussi went on to post a 31-6-2 record and an .895 save percentage for the Canes this season while splitting time with Freddie Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov in the net, and earned himself an NHL contract extension earlier this season that will put the AHL bus rides behind him for good. Bussi became an inspirational story as he took over for Andersen, helped mark a turning point in the series for the Hurricanes, and gave emotional interviews after Carolina’s Game 6 victory.
Brandon Bussi is an absolute legend. pic.twitter.com/Ax27PP8YSW
— Sean 🐴 (@InTheNixOfTime) June 15, 2026
The question now becomes whether Bussi should have been the low-salaried backup netminder in Boston instead of the high-priced Joonas Korpisalo, who posted very similar numbers to Bussi this past season. And now, should the Bruins seriously consider DiPietro as the low-priced backup in Boston this coming season instead of Korpisalo, as the B’s risk losing DiPietro to waivers at the end of training camp if he doesn’t start the season with the NHL club?
DiPietro did play part of one game in Boston last season, making two saves in about six minutes of relief for Korpisalo – with Swayman resting after his gold medal experience at the Olympics -- when the Finnish netminder was pulled by the concussion spotter following a collision with Miles Wood.
“Good for Mikey. He’s been rock solid all year,” said Marco Sturm following his brief look at DiPietro in a Boston uniform. “In that little stretch, he made some key saves and felt very good about it.”
DiPietro was 34-8-1 with a .930 save percentage last season with the P-Bruins and was just as excellent in Providence’s short playoff run afterward and has essentially done everything from an individual basis that a goalie can accomplish at the American League level.
From the O to MVP 🏆🐻@SpitsHockey and @Ottawa67sHockey alumnus Michael DiPietro backstopped the @AHLBruins to the top of the AHL and has earned the Les Cunningham Award as the league’s most valuable player for the 2025-26 season!
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 28, 2026
DETAILS🗞️: https://t.co/AyHOjQh0Tm pic.twitter.com/Qcpy0xuAjx
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