Otto Leinonen
Joonas Korpisalo is in a new situation, writes Iltalehti editor Otto Leinonen.
Joonas Korpisalo will block pucks between the Ottawa Senators’ posts next season. AOP / USA TODAY SPORTS
The NHL free agent market opened on July 1st.
The news of Joonas Korpisalo’s transfer to the Ottawa Senators quickly spread to the public. The Finnish goalkeeper was an unrestricted free agent and signed a five-year contract with the Canadian club.
His salary per season is four million euros and the total value of the contract is 20 million dollars. It is the most significant contract in Korpisalo’s career.
At the same time, he is facing a new situation. Korpisalo has not been such a clear point guard in the past, although he had hints of it for a while while playing for the Los Angeles Kings last spring.
The contract and salary given by the Senators show that Korpisalo has strong credit in Canada’s capital. At the same time, the pressures are stronger.
In terms of Korpisalo’s career, the move can be excellent. There is plenty of potential in Ottawa and the club is on the way forward. The defense has young and talented, but already proven players, such as Jakob Chychrun and Thomas Chabot. The attack is led by the fiery Brady Tkachuk and the German machine Tim Stützle.
Korpisalo’s career was already going downhill with the Columbus Blue Jackets before last season.
The Finn had been left playing second fiddle behind Latvian goalkeeper Elvis Merzlikins
His market value was at rock bottom and injuries were also a problem. Jarmo Kekäläinen gave the Finn one more chance last summer after being offered a one-year contract despite hip surgery.
Korpisalo used it.
If you look purely at the GSAA statistics, i.e. how many goals the goalkeeper has been able to save in relation to the NHL average, Korpisalo was in the NHL’s top ten last season. According to Natural Stat Trick.
The Finn had to fend off pucks behind Columbus’ weak five-point defense, but survived the task with dry feet. The Kings defended much better than the Blue Jackets, which helped Korpisalo too.
When viewed Evolving-Hockey’s GSAx statistics, i.e. how many goals a goalie prevents in relation to expected goals, Korpisalo was among the 20 best goalies in the NHL with his reading of 10.18. Korpisalo therefore blocked a good ten goals more than expected in Columbus alone. In Kings, the corresponding reading was just over six.
For the Senators, hiring Korpisalo was also a risk.
Korpisalo has never played more than 40 matches in one regular season in his career in the NHL, but despite that, he was given a long contract and a fairly good salary.
Korpisalo is expected to play at least 60 matches at a high level. In the Kings, too, he finally held off the first keeper’s mantle on his shoulders for just a moment.
The Senators’ five-man defense was not as tight as the Kings’ last season, and they had a lot of scoring opportunities from time to time.
Anton Forsberg is also lurking behind, who will surely hit the wedge immediately if Korpisalo’s game slows down.
Now is the place for the screen.