Ex-Vancouver Canucks goaltender is on fire with the Boston Bruins
It’s been a difficult journey to the NHL for Michael DiPietro, but he’s finally arrived.
The Vancouver Canucks drafted DiPietro in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Ten seasons later, at the age of 27, DiPietro is on fire for the Boston Bruins.
Heading into this season, DiPietro had played just four games in the NHL before the Bruins declared him their backup goaltender. In five starts this season, he’s won four games with one shutout.
DiPietro’s .925 save percentage ranks fifth among the 59 goaltenders who have made at least five starts this season.
He’s red hot.
It’s been a long time coming for the former Canucks prospect, who has gone through one of the strangest possible development paths to get to the NHL.
DiPietro was once right behind Demko
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After he was drafted, DiPietro quickly became the Canucks’ second-best goaltending prospect behind Thatcher Demko.
In his post-draft season, DiPietro was named the OHL Goaltender of the Year after leading the league in shutouts. He earned a nod to Team Canada for the 2018 World Championship as the third-string goaltender, grooming him for future international appearances.
In 2018-19, DiPietro continued to excel and was named the starter for Team Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championship. While Canada was knocked out early, it was hardly DiPietro’s fault, as he had the lowest goals-against average of any goaltender in the tournament.
Everything was on track for DiPietro; then it all went off the rails.
Like many things that went wrong for the Canucks in that era, it was mostly Jim Benning’s fault.
DiPietro’s first NHL start was an avoidable disaster
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A series of unfortunate events forced a 19-year-old DiPietro into NHL action long before he was ready.
At the beginning of the 2018-19 season, the Canucks had enviable goaltending depth: Jacob Markstrom, Anders Nilsson, Thatcher Demko, and Richard Bachman represented a solid tandem in both the NHL and AHL.
Then that depth got slowly dismantled.
First, Bachman suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in December. Then, Benning traded Anders Nilsson to the Ottawa Senators to free up a spot for Demko in the NHL.
That trade brought back Mike McKenna for AHL depth, but the Canucks needed to put McKenna on waivers to send him to the Utica Comets. The Philadelphia Flyers claimed him off waivers, and the Canucks were down to just two goaltenders: Markstrom and Demko.
Then Demko tweaked his knee in early February, forcing the Canucks to call up DiPietro from the OHL on an emergency recall. Then, the morning before a game against the San Jose Sharks, Markstrom suffered “lower body tightness” and couldn’t play.
Benning had two months after the Bachman injury, one month after the McKenna waiver claim, and one week after the Demko injury to address the Canucks goaltending depth. He didn’t, and a 19-year-old DiPietro was forced to face one of the most potent offences in the NHL.
It went poorly.
With the Canucks’ defence playing horribly in front of him, DiPietro was lit up for three goals on the first five shots. By the end of the game, he had allowed seven goals on 24 shots.
The next day, the Canucks traded a seventh-round pick to the New York Rangers for Marek Mazanec, but it was too little too late.
DiPietro seemed rattled after the loss, as he struggled on his return to the Ottawa 67’s in the OHL. But his weirdest challenge was still to come.
COVID derails DiPietro’s development
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DiPietro got his game back on track in his rookie professional season, playing well for the 2019-20 Utica Comets in the AHL.
Then a global pandemic threw a spanner in the works.
COVID-19 cut short the 2019-20 season, with DiPietro making his final start on March 11, 2020.
When the NHL announced a shortened 2020-21 season, DiPietro, as the team’s top goaltending prospect, was named to the Canucks’ taxi squad.
He stayed on the taxi squad for months, as Demko and backup goaltender Braden Holtby improbably stayed healthy. Instead of bringing in a veteran to be on the taxi squad so DiPietro could go down to the AHL and play games — somewhat important for the development of a young goaltender — DiPietro was stuck.
“What they’re doing to Mikey DiPietro right now borders on — criminal is too strong a word, but it’s not far from it,” said InGoal Magazine’s Kevin Woodley at the time. “I’ve talked to other organizations that have models in terms of goaltenders and how they get to the NHL, and the one thing that you can’t skip is games played.”
DiPietro was finally sent down to the Utica Comets at the end of April, making his first start in over a year on April 30, 2021. He proceeded to play three more games in Utica, meaning he played in just four games over a span of 19 months as a 21-year-old prospect.
DiPietro dominates the AHL
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With his development derailed, it eventually became clear that the Canucks did not see DiPietro as part of the team’s future.
In 2022, the Canucks traded DiPietro to the Boston Bruins as part of the deal to acquire Jack Studnicka.
The Bruins immediately assigned DiPietro to the ECHL. After several tough years and facing the prospect of climbing up the depth chart of a new organization, DiPietro considered quitting hockey altogether.
On the advice of his dad, DiPietro didn’t quit. He reported to the Maine Mariners, posted a .918 save percentage in 29 games, and stuck with the Providence Bruins in the AHL the following season.
The last couple of seasons, DiPietro has dominated the AHL.
In 2024-25, DiPietro won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the best goaltender in the AHL after posting a .927 save percentage in 40 games.
In 2025-26, DiPietro led the AHL in save percentage and goals-against average, and won not only the Baz Bastien, but also the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player.
What else could the Bruins do but trade Joonas Korpisalo and hand DiPietro the backup job in the NHL?
DiPietro has rewarded the Bruins with outstanding play.
On Oct. 22, DiPietro got the start on Hockey Fights Cancer Night. The 27-year-old goaltender, who lost his mother to cancer, posted his first career shutout.