Don Sweeney Explains Bruins’ Trade For Goalie Joonas Korpisalo
Joonas Korpisalo wasn’t the best goaltender in the NHL last season.
The newly acquired Bruins netminder had an overall record of 21-26-4 during the 2023-24 campaign with the Ottawa Senators while posting a .890 save percentage and a 3.27 goals-against average.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Korpisalo’s stats from last season are not indicative of what the 30-year-old goalie can bring to the Black and Gold.
“Joonas has been a high-level goaltender,” Sweeney told reporters, per team-provided video. “(Goaltending coach) Bob (Essensa) did a lot of work with Joonas when he played his best hockey in LA and being able to translate that into our hockey club.”
Korpisalo was traded to the Kings by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2022-23 season. He had an overall record of 7-3-1 in the 11 regular-season games he played for Los Angeles with a .921 save percentage and 2.13 goals-against average.
Sweeney added that when they acquired Korpisalo, they weren’t focused on what he had done just in Ottawa. The Bruins looked at where the team in front of him was at and what his projections would be in Boston, much like they did when they signed Linus Ullmark three years ago.
“Hopefully, in Bob’s case, realizing the body of work is not just isolated to the most recent statistics,” Sweeney explained. “Previous time, I used LA as a reference; when he went there, he had a really good run.
“… I think we feel very comfortable with him as a complement, and the guy that can push because we feel there’s more ground for him to get back to when he played his best hockey. … Again, it’s a projection, but I think we feel comfortable stylistically, the competitiveness in the goaltender and Bob doing his work on how he projects into our lineup.”
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Sweeney admitted Korpisalo’s workload is to be determined, especially given Jeremy Swayman is looking to get into the “upper echelon” of playing 50-plus games for the first time in his NHL career.
“(Korpisalo) is going to go into situations in our system; it’s a systematic adjustment that he’s going to come in, and hopefully, we adhere to our core principles of defending where we’re supposed to, and he does his job,” Sweeney said. “It will be an acclimation process, but we feel very comfortable that his body of work suggests that he can get back to the level I referenced earlier.”
The anticipation is that Korpisalo will push Swayman the way Ullmark had done in the past.
“Joonas has obviously played at a high level and been a starter,” Sweeney said. “The ability to complement Jeremy, to be able to push Jeremy and want the net himself, I think is generally a good competitive atmosphere. It’s what Jeremy has been used to since he’s been in the National Hockey League, and he’s earned everything that’s come his way.
“I don’t want to lose sight of Brandon (Bussi) in the sense that he’s paid his dues and wants his opportunity in the National Hockey League. If he beats out, in this case, all likely Joonas, then we’ll have to give him the opportunity.”