BOSTON -- Midway through their first practice of training camp, the Boston Bruins announced the signing of a goalie. Kasimir Kaskisuo, a veteran of the American Hockey League, was added on a professional tryout agreement.
It was hardly the goalie signing Boston -- and its fans -- had been hoping for.
Instead, the Bruins saw two goalies headline their two sessions Thursday, with Joonas Korpisalo leading the first group and Brandon Bussi the second. And with Jeremy Swayman unsigned and not at camp, Korpisalo and Bussi will be the tandem the Bruins turn to for the foreseeable future, perhaps even into the regular season.
Because while general manager Don Sweeney said Wednesday the Bruins are confident they will sign Swayman by the Dec. 1 deadline to play in 2024-25, there are a lot of minutes to fill until then.
“It doesn’t change my job and, quite frankly, I just want to focus on my job,” Korpisalo said of Swayman’s absence. “Of course, he’s a great guy. I got to work with him before the camp. Great guy, great goalie. Just focusing on myself.”
Korpisalo is a veteran of 276 NHL games, 55 of which (49 starts) came last season with the Ottawa Senators. He finished 21-26-4 with a 3.27 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage, a significantly worse showing than he had at the end of 2022-23 with the Los Angeles Kings, when he went 7-3-1 with a 2.13 GAA and .921 save percentage in 11 games after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
And there’s hope Korpisalo could get back to that version of himself, hope bolstered by the defense in Boston and by the magic sometimes rendered by Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa.
“You look at 22 years of ‘Goalie Bob’s’ history here, and it’s pretty special,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “He does great work in getting our goaltenders ready, no matter who they are.”
Korpisalo has identified a few ways in which he believes he can get his game where it needs to be. But there are no significant changes in store.
“Maybe simplify my game,” he said. “It all comes down to the little, little details. Nothing major. We get to work with Bob, there’s a couple slight things I want to change. Nothing crazy.”
To that end, Sweeney talked to Kings general manager Rob Blake about Korpisalo’s time in L.A., about the potential there. From there, he has left it to the Bruins’ version of the goaltending excellence department.
“Bob and (goaltender development coach) Mike Dunham did a good job breaking down when Joonas was playing well, as opposed to when he wasn't,” Sweeney said. “And hopefully the structure that we're going to provide in front of him will help him in some of those areas.
“A few years ago, we did a study with Jaro Halak when he was coming in here, some of the areas that we felt would improve when he got here, and Jaro did a good job. So, we're confident that Joonas will get back to being [what he was in] L.A. and certainly in stints in Columbus.”
For now, though, Korpisalo is taking the short view.
“Just go day by day,” Korpisalo said. “That’s been my motto for every year. Of course, you have to look ahead. But right now, head down, put the work in and get better.”
Bussi, who has yet to get a chance in the NHL, could have more upside. The 26-year-old has had good numbers the past two seasons in the AHL for Providence after coming out of Western Michigan. He went 22-5-4 in 2022-23 with a 2.40 GAA and .924 save percentage in 32 games and 23-10-5 with a 2.67 GAA and .913 save percentage in 41 games last season.
“I think what gives us confidence is he has the ability to make big time saves,” Montgomery said. “We've seen that in Providence, we saw that here last year in that first exhibition game and that incredible save he made. But also, it's his second and third effort. We talk about Bruins having that, and that's something that he has in the crease.”
Bussi said he spent a lot of time this summer in the gym, trying to get stronger and faster, saying, “This is some of the best shape I’ve been in in my career,” as he tries to make the jump to the NHL.
The message, he said, was simple. And it didn’t change based on who is in camp -- and who isn’t.
“Just go out there, give it your best, earn everything,” Bussi said. “That’s the Bruin motto. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Boston, clearly, would rather have Swayman back in net. For training camp. For the regular season. It was evident in what Sweeney said Wednesday, that “Every day that Jeremy is out, it hurts our team and it hurts him because of the preparation that we would like to do and he needs to do.”
In the meantime, though, the jobs belong to Korpisalo and Bussi. It’s their chance to show what they’ve got.
