The NHL buyout window will open on Wednesday. The Boston Bruins do not figure to be active in it. At this point, there is no plan to buy out Joonas Korpisalo, acquired on Monday from the Ottawa Senators in the Linus Ullmark trade.
“Korpi will play for BOS,” Markus Lehto, Korpisalo’s agent, wrote in an email.
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“The team has no plans to buy out Korpisalo at this time,” a team representative confirmed to The Athletic.
Had the Bruins planned to buy out Korpisalo (two-thirds of his remaining salary), they would have been responsible for $8 million of his $10,666,667 payout, spread over eight years. They would have then had to sign another veteran goalie to complement Jeremy Swayman and Brandon Bussi.
Instead, Korpisalo ($3 million average annual value through 2028) projects to be Swayman’s No. 2 in 2024-25.
It is a significant cap allocation for a goalie with the second-lowest rate of goals saved above expectation in the NHL last year. The Bruins, however, are counting on a turnaround.
It is a good bet.
The Bruins play a tighter defensive style than the Senators. In coach Jim Montgomery’s defensive-zone system, the Bruins allowed 2.55 expected goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play last season, per Natural Stat Trick. The Senators were at 2.64. The Bruins allowed 7.42 high-danger shots per 60. The Senators were at 7.59.
More than that, the Bruins are counting on goaltending coach Bob Essensa to initiate a turnaround in Korpisalo’s game. Essensa played a critical role in shaping Ullmark from a Buffalo Sabres castoff to 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner.
The 6-foot-3, 189-pound Korpisalo is a more fluid goalie than Ullmark. It took the latter a full season to feel comfortable incorporating backflow, the drift Essensa prefers his charges to exercise. Prior to his Boston arrival, the 6-foot-4, 213-pound Ullmark was a push-stop goalie. He favored more explosive movements to get to his spots and hold his ground.
Korpisalo is also familiar with the shin lock, the technique Essensa endorses to play the strong-side post. In Essensa’s view, it provides a tighter seal than the toe lock or skate-on-post, which most goalies prefer.
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So while Korpisalo’s $3 million AAV does not align with his most recent performance, the Bruins may view his 2023-24 play as a career aberration. In 2022-23, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Korpisalo from the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the Vladislav Gavrikov trade. Korpisalo recorded a .921 save percentage in 11 starts for the Kings.
If Essensa does his thing and Korpisalo settles in as a 30-start backup, the Bruins should be in good shape in net. Swayman’s postseason charge signals he is ready to thrive with a heavier workload. The 25-year-old will benefit from having Korpisalo, 30, as his partner.
The organization’s next step is to lock Swayman into the multi-year extension he deserves. The Bruins allocated $8.475 million in goaltending last year. Their investment will be more than that in 2024-25 with Swayman’s expected raise. Swayman will become a restricted free agent on July 1. He is eligible for arbitration, the route he took last offseason to score his one-year, $3.475 million award.
The trickier decision is how the Bruins proceed with Bussi. He signed a one-year, two-way, $775,000 contract on Monday. The 26-year-old will require waivers to be assigned to the AHL in 2024-25.
The 6-foot-5, 218-pounder has a career .918 save percentage over 78 career appearances for the Providence Bruins. Even though he has yet to make an NHL appearance, Bussi could be worth a waivers claim for a lower-level team looking for goaltending depth. It would leave Michael DiPietro (three career NHL appearances for the Vancouver Canucks) as the No. 3 goalie.
But those are future worries. General manager Don Sweeney’s top priority is selecting a good player on Friday with the No. 25 pick, the real prize of the Ullmark trade. It came at a cost.
(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
