The Boston Bruins have a Vezina finalist locked in as their starter. Behind Jeremy Swayman, Marco Sturm has a real decision brewing this summer.

Joonas Korpisalo is signed for two more years. Michael DiPietro is knocking the door off the hinges. Something has to give.

Korpisalo finished his 2025-26 campaign 14-9-6 with a .894 save percentage. Boston absorbed 75% of his $4,000,000 cap hit in last year's trade with Ottawa.

That's $3,000,000 sitting in the backup chair. Fine number for a veteran tandem piece. Less fine when the kid in Providence is putting up video game numbers.

DiPietro just won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award for the second straight season. He added AHL MVP honors to the trophy case.

His Providence line read 34-8-1, with a 1.91 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. League leader in all three. Three shutouts too.

Don Sweeney walks a tightrope with two contracts and one job

DiPietro's deal is the kind of bargain front offices dream about. An $812,500 cap hit through next season, then unrestricted free agency waiting on the other side.

Korpisalo went 8-1-6 down the stretch in a season where Boston finished 45-27-10. Every point mattered for a team that landed eighth overall in the league.

That's the case for keeping him. He delivered when the schedule tightened. He didn't fold.

But Frank Seravalli already laid down a marker. On Wednesday's episode of "Frankly Hockey," the insider said DiPietro "ain't clearing waivers again."

Translation: if Boston tries the same waiver dance they pulled in October, another team grabs him. Free goaltending doesn't sit on the wire twice.

So Don Sweeney has a math problem. Two goalies. One backup slot behind a Vezina finalist. Roughly $3,812,500 in combined cap charge if both stay.

Trading Korpisalo isn't a phone call you make in an afternoon. Two years left, .894 save percentage, and a market that usually wants cheaper backup options.

Could a retention deal move it? Maybe. Boston already swallowed retention coming in. Doing it again to send him out feels like paying twice for the same mistake.

The cleanest path runs through Providence. DiPietro has earned the look. Whether Causeway Street is where the look happens, that's the part nobody on the Bruins side can answer yet.