NHL Hot Seat Radar: Korpisalo's Seat Red Hot in Boston, While Pastrnak is Chilling Big in Beantown

This is the latest edition in THN.com’s Hot Seat Radar series. In this file, we’re examining the Boston Bruins.

In each file of the Hot Seat Radar series, we’re identifying someone on the 'hot seat' who's dealing with a notable amount of pressure to produce positive results or face consequences that could put their relationship with their team and overall position in jeopardy. As well, we're pointing out someone on the 'cold seat' who's untouchable and will be around for the long run. (And financial data in this series comes via The Hockey News’ roster and salary cap site, THN Lineups.)

The Bruins once again were a solid team in 2023-24, but they’ve made significant changes to their roster. Let’s begin:

There aren’t many Bruins players or management members on the hot seat, but first-year Bruin Korpisalo definitely will be feeling the heat as the backup to No. 1 netminder Jeremy Swayman. Korpisalo was acquired from Ottawa in the off-season trade that sent dependable veteran goalie Linus Ullmark to the Senators, and while the Sens retained 25 percent of Korpsialo’s $4-million-per-season salary to make the deal work, paying a veteran $3 million to serve as an understudy and play 30-40 games is no small amount of cap space.

Korpisalo is now on his fourth NHL team in the past three years, and his individual statistics last season – including a 3.27 goals-against average and .890 save percentage in a career-high 55 appearances – do not inspire a lot of confidence in him. The 30-year-old is under contract for the next four seasons, and while Bruins GM Don Sweeney is hoping that a reduced workload in front of a superior Bs defense corps will help Korpisalo’s performance, Korpisalo has to do his part as a reclamation project of sorts.

If he struggles and Boston has to rely even more on Swayman, the Korpisalo trade will be a notable failure. There’s still time to salvage his career, but Korpisalo will be under the microscope throughout his tenure in Boston, and he needs a bounce-back year in a big way.

Once again this past season, Pastrnak was Boston’s best skater, posting a career-best 63 assists and 110 points in 82 games. The 28-year-old winger was in the first year of an eight-year contract paying him an average annual amount of $11.25 million, and he’s in the prime of his career, serving as a leader on and off the ice. Short of trading him for someone like Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon or Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, there’s no chance Pastrnak will be an ex-Bruin anytime soon.

Pastrnak was named to the NHL’s Second All-Star Team for his efforts in 2023-24, and he’s going to be a frontrunner for the Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy, the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy this coming season. The Czechia native is about as elite as it gets in the hockey business, and he’s become a Boston icon who won't need to worry if his time in Beantown will come to an end in the foreseeable future. Pastrnak can go about his business knowing the Bruins are in win-now mode, and contribute excellently to Boston’s cause.