Ex-Canucks prospect poised to crack NHL roster nine years after Vancouver drafted him
Here’s a good reminder that everyone’s path to the NHL looks a little bit different.
A lot has happened since the 2017 NHL Draft for the Canucks. The player they drafted fifth overall, Elias Pettersson, blossomed into a superstar before ending up with one of the worst contracts in hockey.
At that point, the Canucks didn’t have Quinn Hughes or J.T. Miller on the team. Travis Green had yet to coach a game for the club.
During all of that time since 2017, one Canucks draft pick from that year has been grinding it out, waiting to become a full-time NHLer.
Well, it looks like that opportunity has finally come, as DiPietro is slated to be the Boston Bruins’ full-time backup in 2026-27.
So, how did he finally make the NHL, nine years after the Canucks added him to the organization?
Back in 2017, the Canucks drafted goaltender Michael DiPietro early in the third round at 64th overall. He was just the third goalie taken at that point in the draft, with Jake Oettinger (26th overall, Dallas Stars) and Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen (54th overall, Buffalo Sabres) getting selected ahead of him.
DiPietro was selected with some fanfare, as he was the first goalie drafted by the Canucks since Thatcher Demko (36th overall in 2014). The 6-foot goaltender also led the Windsor Spitfires to a Memorial Cup in his draft year.
Things were trending in the right direction for DiPietro, with a solid end to his OHL career, a World Juniors appearance for Canada, and a promising rookie season with the AHL’s Utica Comets.
But the youngster was about to have his mental fortitude tested during his final days with the Canucks.
The COVID-19 pandemic meant DiPietro lost nearly a full year of development. He actually went 400 days without playing a game. After requesting a trade, he was dealt early in Patrik Allvin’s tenure to the Boston Bruins, along with prospect Jonathan Myrenberg, for Jack Studnicka.
In Boston, he ended up in the ECHL after just one AHL game.
“I just felt like my career was going the opposite direction,” DiPietro said in 2025 on the InGoal Magazine podcast.
“Within the span of eight months, I went from the NHL, American League, and now I’m playing the East Coast.”
“I remember driving to Maine [Mariners, Boston’s ECHL affiliate] when I got sent down, and I was really upset. I was frustrated. I felt embarrassed.”
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From there, DiPietro has written his redemption story.
He began to rediscover his love for the game during the 2022-23 season with Boston’s ECHL affiliate. The following year, he became a full-time AHL goaltender, splitting starts with current Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi.
“Brandon is one of the most genuinely nice people you’re gonna meet in the sport of hockey,” DiPietro said. “He’s probably, if not my only, one of my only best friend goalie partner combinations I’ve ever had in my career.”
Over the last two AHL seasons, there’s arguably been no better goalie outside of the NHL than DiPietro.
In 2024-25, the Windsor, Ont., native posted a sparkling 26-8-5 record with a .927 save percentage, winning the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s best goaltender.
Not to be outdone, DiPietro’s encore in 2025-26 featured a 34-8-1 record with a .930 save percentage. Unsurprisingly, he was named AHL goalie of the year, once again. He became just the second goalie in AHL history to win two years in a row, after Dustin Wolf did so in 2022 and 2023.
His stellar play seemingly pushed the Bruins to create a roster spot for him. On July 1, they traded incumbent backup Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers for prospect Kalle Vaisanen and a 2028 fourth-round pick.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was asked if DiPietro’s emergence was a primary reason for the trade.
“Yeah, primarily why,” he responded on July 1.
“We just feel that Michael has earned this opportunity…It’s just a real good opportunity for him now to come in and take the last two years in particular and apply it to the National Hockey League,” Sweeney said.
“You’re never going to know unless you get that opportunity, and at some point in time, the team has to provide it.”
To date, DiPietro has appeared in just four NHL games, starting just two of them.
But after a near-decade-long grind since being drafted, expect to see much more of DiPietro in the NHL next season.