He gave it his all while in Columbus.
Joonas Korpisalo was the ultimate professional while he was in Columbus. For four years he backed up Blue Jacket great Sergei Bobrovsky and usually played well when he did it.
Korpisalo came to America in 2015 and played three games for the Springfield Falcons, going 0-2 with a GAA of 3.20 and a save % of .878. I’m sure Korpisalo was just adjusting to North American hockey, but in his mind, there’s no doubt he had more to offer. The next season the Blue Jackets would switch affiliates from Springfield, in Massachusetts, to Lake Erie. A welcome change for some of the guys who would go back and forth from Columbus to their AHL team. Korpisalo would make an immediate impact for the Monsters.
Korpisalo would go on to play in 18 games for the Monsters that season, going 8-8-4 with a GAA of 2.36 and a save % of .913. More importantly, he would go 6-2 in the Calder Cup Playoffs and the Monsters would win the 2016 Calder Cup. He and former Monster Anton Forsberg would carry the team through the playoffs.
In 2016-17 he would only play in 14 NHL games, as starter Sergei Bobrovsky was healthy and playing well. He would also get 16 games in Cleveland that year too. For Columbus, he went 7-5-1, and for Cleveland went 7-6-5. The 17-18 year saw Korpisalo’s games creep up to 18, as again Bobrovsky would play 65 games. He would go 8-8-1 in Columbus and 3-4-2 in Cleveland.
In the 2018-19 year, Korpisalo would see his games played balloon to 27. Between starts and relief appearances his record would be 10-7-3. Bobrovsky was pulled a lot that season for various reasons. Korpisalo wouldn’t make any starts in the playoffs that year.
In 2019, we saw the departure of Bobrovsky to Florida, opening the starting position. That year Elvis Merzlikins also came to North America and was going to battle for the job. Korpisalo would win the starting job, play in 37 games, and go 19-12-5. His GAA that year was .911 and his save % was 2.60. It seemed Korpisalo’s time had arrived. Later. In April of 2020, he would earn a contract extension.
Korpisalo would go on to start in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He would lead the charge and upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in the play-in round. In game 1 of the series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Korpisalo would set the single-game record, making 85 saves in an overtime game for the ages. The game went into the 5th overtime and the CBJ would go to lose that game and the series.
The next couple of seasons weren’t very good for the Jackets, or Korpisalo. Splitting time with Merzlikins over three seasons saw an average GAA of 3.54 and a save % of .894 for Korpisalo. In his defense, his blueline did not play well in any way shape, or form, so both goalies suffered, especially when neither group could bail each other out.
On March 1st, 2023, Joonas Korpisalo’s tenure with the CBJ would come to an end. He and D-man Vladislav Gavrikov would be traded to the LA Kings. Korpisalo played well for LA. He would go 7-3-1 in the regular season with stats of 2.13 GAA and a .921 save %, those are the Korpisalo numbers that he’s capable of. His numbers in the playoffs as the starter were not good, however, and the Kings would get knocked out in the first round.
During his time backing up Bobrovsky, he racked up 90 games played in four seasons, 81 of those being starts. He was backing up one of the best active goalies in the game, so it was going to be hard for him to get playing time, but when he did play, he usually played well. Early in his career, the team couldn’t seem to score when Korpisalo was playing, so he seemed to be always doing it on his own. But as the years went on, that seemed to correct itself.
So far, in his nine-year career, he has a record of 94-81-25. His GAA is right around 3 and his save % is at .904. He looks to continue that as he just signed a lengthy five-year contract worth $20 million with the Ottawa Senators. He will be on an up-and-coming Senators team that looks to make a major jump in the Atlantic. And with some of the top teams in that division getting older, they’re hoping for a power shift and banking on Joonas Korpisalo to take them to the top.
Ask anyone who follows Columbus closely whether or not they think Korpisalo will be successful, and the answer is usually yes.