Michael DiPietro looking to force his way into Bruins’ goalie picture

Michael DiPietro earned himself a decent shot at an NHL goaltending job with his stellar 2024-25 season in Providence. Whether he seizes that chance – and in turn creates an interesting opportunity for the Bruins to improve their roster elsewhere – will be one of the most interesting story lines when the training camp opens in September.

The 26-year-old DiPietro, a 2017 third-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks who was obtained for Jack Studnicka in October 2022, enjoyed a standout season in the AHL (26-8-5, .927 save percentage, 2.05 GAA) for Providence. It was good enough for the B’s to lock him down on June 30 to a two-year, one-way deal worth an annual salary of $812,500.

He was set to become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent on July 1 but he decided to stay put and see where his Bruins odyssey would take him.

“There’s a few factors. Firstly, Boston is the team that really gave me a second chance on my career after getting traded from Vancouver. I kind of had to start from the ground up when I got to Boston,” said DiPietro, reached at his home in Amherstburg, Ontario. “When I got here, the journey for myself was to find my game, to find what works in my game and what doesn’t and I think for me, the staff, the goalie coaching in (Mike Dunham) and (Bob Essensa), mostly Dunnie in Providence, has been fantastic. As I’ve grown up in the organization, going into my third full year, I think for myself, the resources that they provide on the mental side of the game – I talk with our mental coach once a week, Dr. Bob (Dr. Robert Knaus), down in Providence – all those factors were part of it. I’m big on cherishing hard work and working for things. I think if you’ve seen my career since I’ve turned pro there’s been a little bit of adversity. And to me, going to an organization that prides itself on just putting their head down and going to work, it’s a really good fit for me. It just boils down to loyalty, too. I was obviously very happy when they offered what they did. It was exactly what we wanted from our perspective and I’m just happy that the deal’s done. I’m moving forward and prepping for the season.”

Indeed, DiPietro had to start from scratch in the organization. He spent most of 2022-23 with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL (19-9, 2.61 GAA, .918 save percentage), before bumping up to Providence the next season to be Brandon Bussi’s 1B, getting 30 games (18-9-2, 2.51, .918) before getting in 40 games last season.

He’ll be part of an intriguing goalie competition in camp. Unless some blockbuster trade goes down, Jeremy Swayman will be the No. 1 goalie. He showed signs that he was ready to put his subpar ‘24-25 season (22-29-7, 3.11, .892) behind him with a strong World Championships gold medal win for the US. But if the leaks continue, it’s a good bet that new coach Marco Sturm will be less hesitant to use his second goalie more often.

But who will that backup be? The incumbent is Joonas Korpisalo, who has three years left at $3 million cap hit (Ottawa retained $1 million of $4 million cap hit of his salary in the Linus Ullmark deal). Though he finished with numbers that weren’t all that inspiring (11-10-3, 2.90, .893) last season, the 31-year-old Korpisalo had his moments, enough for even GM Don Sweeney to say he probably should have gotten more time as Swayman searched for his game.

Now, into that mix goes DiPietro.

“Obviously I have a lot of respect for Sway and Korpi. They’re both great goaltenders. For myself, you can’t be intimidated. When you go to camp, you have to be comfortable in your own skin. You’ve got to be comfortable with who you are,” said DiPietro. “The big thing for me is, don’t be anything I’m not. The only person I can be is myself. My mindset for camp is the same as every camp I’ve been to, which is to try to make decisions hard. For me to sit here and say I want to go steal a job and this, that and the other, it’s pretty black and white. Everybody that goes into an NHL training camp wants to make an NHL roster and for myself that’s no different. However, I think I have a lot of respect for the guys that are there and at the same time, all I have to worry about is when the puck comes, I have to try and stop it. That’s not me wishing any will will on anybody. I’m not saying I want to do this or that. For me, it’s putting my head down, like I’ve been taught by parents, just putting in the work and at the end of the day trying to make a decision difficult.”

If both Korpisalo and DiPietro perform up to their expectations or beyond in camp, it would create both a dilemma and opportunity for the B’s. Both Korpisalo and DiPietro would require waivers to be sent to Providence. From a purely financial standpoint, it would behoove the B’s if DiPietro won the job. Even if DiPietro wasn’t great in camp, chances are he’d get snatched up on waivers before Korpisalo would because of the veteran’s contract. And there are some teams who should be desperate to upgrade their goaltending (hello, Edmonton). Could the B’s work out a trade that could bolster their current roster, or at least add to their stable of prospects? Speculation is running rampant on both sides of the border as we hit the dead-air portion of the NHL calendar.

Time will tell on that. For now, that’s none of DiPietro’s concern.

“Frankly, I don’t have any social media. As far as the talk, I try to block it out,” said DiPietro. “I think my game was in a really good spot last year and I think it’s in an even better spot now. I just think as long as I keep progressing and remembering starting from the ground up after being traded, chipping the way up the ladder and just keeping my head down and doing the work is a great feeling. Building off a season like last year is important for me and going in the right direction, still improving in aspects of my game I still need to improve in. But yeah, you get excited for camp and think ‘Maybe this is the year.’ Frankly I think my game is in a really good spot last year. If I were to have gotten a game maybe, it would have been a lot more comfortable out there than maybe the past NHL experience that I’ve had, the little that I do have (three games, .771, 5.28, 0-2 with Vancouver). Yeah, it’s exciting whenever you go to camp, especially building off a season like last year. But at the end, it’s up to me to go out there and stop the puck and make decisions hard. All the outside noise, that’s great but it doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is your product on the ice. I have to prove it to the coaches, I have to prove it to Sweens and everybody in Boston if I’m good enough to make the Bruins’ roster. And I need to prove it to myself firstly and then everything else will follow. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’m excited to be back for two years and in an organization so rich in history. Who knows what will happen? The rumors are everywhere. But I’m a ‘be where your feet are’ kind of person and my feet are in Amherstburg right now, home with my family and doing everything I can to get myself ready, physically and most importantly mentally, for another long, grueling hockey season. And hopefully a really good one.”