Brandon Bussi

Playing career

Brandon Bussi began his college career with the Western Michigan University Broncos in the 2019–20 season. During the 2021–22 campaign, he backstopped the Broncos to their first NCAA tournament victory, stopping 30 shots in a 2–1 overtime win against Northeastern University. Western Michigan was then eliminated by the University of Minnesota in the following round. On March 30, 2022, the Boston Bruins announced that Bussi would skip his senior year to sign a one-year entry-level contract. He spent the remainder of that season with Boston’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, appearing in five games and posting a 3–2–0 record with one shutout. Bussi has said that his early mindset was perfectionist, noting that poor performances and losses would negatively affect his practices and subsequent games, and that learning to move past that was key to his growth as a professional.

Bussi’s first full season with Providence was highly successful. As a rookie in 2022–23, he ranked sixth among AHL goalies in goals against average (2.40) and second in save percentage (.924). His performance earned him a spot in the 2023 AHL All-Star Game, representing the Atlantic Division. On April 12, 2023, he was recalled to Boston on an emergency basis, dressed as the backup, but did not play and was soon returned to Providence. At the end of the season, he was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team. On June 19, 2023, the Bruins extended him a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000.

Coming off that strong rookie year, Bussi was expected to be Providence’s starting goaltender for the 2023–24 season. While his numbers dipped slightly under the increased workload, he still had a solid campaign, starting 41 games and compiling a 23–10–5 record. Throughout the season, he received several emergency call-ups to Boston due to injuries to NHL goalies Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, but he served only as a backup and never saw NHL ice. In the Calder Cup playoffs, Providence faced the Hartford Wolf Pack in the first round for the second straight year. Bussi started all four games, posting a shutout in a 6–0 Game 2 victory. That win was the only one for Bussi and the Bruins in the series, as they lost the other three games, with the final two defeats coming in overtime.