Boston Bruins Depth Between The Pipes

The Boston Bruins know how to develop goaltending, as evidenced by former Providence Bruins and Maine Mariners goalie Brandon Bussi winning the Stanley Cup this past season. The Bruins let him go, as he was claimed off waivers by the Florida Panthers before ending up in Carolina. They didn’t want to make that mistake again, as they traded Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers, opening the door for Michael DiPietro to be the backup, which sets up their goaltending for the 2026-27 season. So how do things line up for this upcoming season?

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Boston – Jeremy Swayman & Michael DiPietro

There’s no question Swayman is the number one in Boston, but the question is the backup. The Bruins’ moving on from Korpisalo signaled DiPietro; then they signed Jiri Patera, which clearly was not a signal of a green light for the backup spot. It is DiPietro’s job to lose after he won not only the Bastien Memorial Trophy but the Les Cunningham Award, which goes to the MVP of the AHL. DiPietro went 34-8-1 with a 1.91 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage, and three shutouts. He led the AHL in wins, goals-against average, and save percentage.

Providence – Jiri Patera & Simon Zajicek

The Bruins made sure to hold onto Zajicek, re-signing him to a one-year, two-way contract back on June 23rd. They brought in Patera to give DiPietro competition but’ll split time with Zajicek in Providence this season and will likely be a call-up if an injury occurs. Zajicek last season impressed in his 21 games, going 14-6-1 with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. Patera did appear in one game for Vancouver last season; however, he struggled. He did appear in 30 games at Abbotsford, going 12-14-4 with a 2.63 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and a shutout. Despite the Canucks struggling after winning the Calder Cup, Patera did finish 16th in the AHL in goals-against average and tenth in save percentage.

Maine – Luke Cavallin & Max Lundgren

Maine Mariners fans are going to miss Brad Arvanitis, who was a big part of them making the Kelly Cup Playoffs and going on the run that they did, but Cavallin is back and will be the number one. Lundgren will play his first full professional season, and as a guy who played in every Merrimack game last season will impress in his role with Maine. He will likely be the main guy if an injury occurs and Cavallin has to go to Providence.

In 34 games, Cavallin went 18-10-5 with a 2.35 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage, and four shutouts. He went 5-3-2 in the playoffs with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. Cavallin was third among all goalies in goals-against average during the playoffs. He played in eight games for Providence last season, going 6-2-0 with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Lundgren, in all 39 of Merrimack College’s games, went 21-16-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage, and a shutout.

Wrap Up

The Bruins have built solid goalie depth, and as I mentioned at the start, are making sure they don’t make a mistake again as they did with Bussi. If you look at each duo down the line at each level, it’s obvious they have options everywhere to keep each team in their organization in a solid position to not miss a beat throughout the system. The Bruins will be an interesting team to watch in 2026-27, but the goaltending won’t be a problem.