Rangers Acquire G Joonas Korpisalo From Boston for a Pick, Prospect
The Rangers trade a prospect and a future mid-round pick for a pricey veteran backup goalie in a perplexing move.
The New York Rangers first bit of business today came in the form of a trade, as the team announced the acquisition of goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins. In exchange, the Rangers sent back prospect Kalle Vaisanen and a 2028 fourth round pick.
OFFICIAL: We have acquired goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from Boston in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round draft pick and forward Kalle Vaisanen.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 1, 2026
Full details → https://t.co/B7XBT1Rdwb pic.twitter.com/Rg3xYKnmVH
As perfectly articulated by JFresh, Joonas Korpisalo is, indeed, a goalie.
Joonas Korpisalo, acquired by NYR, is a goalie. pic.twitter.com/PZfEDnYCT6
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 1, 2026
This news is incredibly perplexing for a number of reasons. By all accounts, Dylan Garand showed towards the end of last season that he was ready to be a full-time backup goaltender at the NHL level. As has been reported by a number of the team's beat writers, it appears the Rangers are not ruling out Garand being the backup next season, but wanted to bring in competition.
#NYR are viewing it as a competition between Korpisalo and Dylan Garand for the No. 2 role, according to a league source. You'd have to think Korpisalo has a leg up due to the experience factor (334 career NHL appearances) but they're not ruling out Garand winning the job at camp https://t.co/SSdMGXuwiU
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) July 1, 2026
Korpisalo is entering the fourth year of a five-year deal with trade protection that he signed with the Ottawa Senators back in 2023. The Senators later traded him (with $1 million of his salary retained) to Boston as part of the Linus Ullmark deal. A third round draft pick in 2012, Korpisalo had a decent start to his professional career in Columbus before being dealt to Los Angeles as part of the trade that sent current Ranger Vladislav Gavrikov to the Kings.
Chris Feldman
Korpisalo's stint in LA was the last time he had a save percentage above .900 as he average a .894 across the last two seasons in Boston, playing an average of 29 games a season. Frankly, $3 million is a lot of money to spend for a goalie with those numbers, specifically one who is apparently only here for "competition."
As for what the Rangers gave up, they did have two fourth round picks in 2028 thanks to the Artemi Panarin trade. Kalle Vaisanen was a former fourth round pick himself, selected 106th overall by the Rangers in 2021. At 6-5, 194 pounds, Vaisanen played a total of 54 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, collecting three goals and an assists in 51 games played last season. His road to the NHL was always going to be a long one and the Rangers now have a bit of a surplus on the wings, even in the AHL.
Still, a pair of fourth rounders is a steep price to pay for Korpisalo, to the point where I can't help but wonder if the Rangers are entertaining trading Garand or if Vladislav Gavrikov is really good friends with Korpisalo and this was a move they made to try and make him happy after reports of him wanting out began to circle.
Either way, welcome to New York, Korpisalo. And thank you for your services, Vaisanen.
