Bruins’ Korpisalo replaces Sabres’ Luukkonen on Finland’s Olympic team
The Finland Olympic men’s hockey team has been forced to make a last-minute goaltending change to their roster.
Boston Bruins netminder Joonas Korpisalo has been named as a replacement for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, as the Buffalo Sabres goaltender is still recovering from a lower-body injury and is unable to participate in the tournament.
Korpi gets the call 🫡
Korpisalo joins Kevin Lankinen (Vancouver Canucks) and Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators) as the three goalies on Finland’s roster for the tournament. There’s a strong chance Korpisalo won’t play in the tournament, as he’ll be the team’s third option, but this does bode well for Lankinen and Saros, as it makes them the clear-cut starter and backup. Saros will likely be the starter due to his experience, but it isn’t confirmed at this point in time.
Korpisalo was the best option to replace Luukkonen, as the Bruins’ netminder was the only remaining option for Finland with a save percentage above .890 in the NHL this season. Finland only has seven goalies to choose from that have played an NHL game this season, with the other three options being Justus Annunen (Predators), Ville Husso (Anaheim Ducks) and Leevi Merilainen (Ottawa Senators).
Korpisalo hasn’t been spectacular this season, but he’s played well enough as the Bruins’ backup. In 21 games this season, he has a 10-8-1 record, an .895 SV%, one shutout and a 0 5v5 goals saved above expected, which ranks third among Finnish goalies (and is ahead of Saros).
This will be Korpisalo’s eighth time representing Finland at the international level. His international resume includes the 2017 World Championships and the 2013 and 2014 World Junior Championships.
Luukkonen had to step down from the tournament after sustaining a lower-body injury during the Sabres’ 7-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 27th while attempting to make a save on the Leafs’ second goal of the game. He was considered to be out week-to-week with the injury and was making progress, but not enough to be ready for the Olympics.
Luukkonen has had a bounce-back season in net for a surging Sabres team, as he has an 11-7-2 record, a .903 SV% and a 0.03 5v5 GSAx on the year.
Finland enters the Olympics as the reigning gold-medal winners from the 2022 tournament in Beijing, China, as well as the defending bronze-medal winners from the previous best-on-best tournament in Sochi, Russia in 2014. They kick off the tournament against Slovakia on Wednesday, February 11th at 10:40 a.m. ET.