Boston Bruins
Moving Korpisalo clears up $3 million off of Boston’s books for each of the next two years.
Joonas Korpisalo is heading to New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
July 1, 2026 | 1:28 PM
1 minute to read
The Boston Bruins are shaking up their goalie corps.
Boston announced on Wednesday that they have traded veteran goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers in exchange for prospect Kalle Vaisanen and a 2028 fourth-round draft pick.
Vaisanen — who scored just four points in 51 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack — is more of a placeholder, while recouping a future fourth-round pick is a nice bit of business in a deal for a rather obvious trade candidate in Korpisalo.
But the top priority in any trade centered around Korpisalo was clearing off salary, with Boston taking $3 million in cap space off their books in each of the next two years. According to PuckPedia, the Bruins now have $10.7 million in cap space at this stage of the offseason.
Korpisalo played two seasons in Boston, with the Bruins taking on the veteran goalie and his contract as part of the deal with Ottawa involving Linus Ullmark.
The 32-year-old netminder was a serviceable option with the Bruins — sporting an .894 save percentage over 31 games as Jeremy Swayman’s backup this past year.
But Boston was carrying excess expenditures with Korpisalo, with the Bruins having more than $11 million tied up in its goaltending.
Moving on from Korpisalo not only gives Boston some more spending flexibility but also elevates reigning AHL MVP Michael DiPietro as the early favorite to take over as Swayman’s backup moving forward.
The 27-year-old DiPietro — acquired by Boston in a trade with Vancouver involving Jack Studnicka in October 2022 — has found his stride over the last few seasons in the AHL.
He has won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s top goalie in each of the past two seasons, with DiPietro also earning league MVP honors in 2025-26 after posting a 34-8-1 record with a .930 save percentage over 45 games with the P-Bruins.
Not only does DiPietro have potentially a higher upside than Korpoisalo, but he’s also a far more affordable option with just a $812,500 cap hit.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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