Bruins’ DiPietro voted AHL MVP after standout season
Michael DiPietro’s MVP season gave Providence an award winner, and gave Boston another proof point that its goalie pipeline is paying off.
Michael DiPietro capped a season of heavy workloads and steady results by winning the AHL’s Les Cunningham Award as the league’s most valuable player for 2025-26, while also taking the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for the second straight year. The Providence Bruins netminder separated from a deep field because he did it across the full season, not in a short burst.
The American Hockey League’s MVP vote carried weight beyond the trophy. Coaches, players and media members across the league took part, and DiPietro’s name rose to the top after he also landed on the 2025-26 First-Team All-Star list. Providence backed that individual run with a strong team season, and the Bruins organization got a clearer read on a goalie who handled the biggest nights and the biggest minutes.
DiPietro’s January was the kind of month that turns a strong season into an award case. The AHL named him its Goaltender of the Month on Feb. 3, 2026 after he went 8-1-0 in nine starts, allowed 12 goals on 228 shots, and posted a 1.33 goals-against average with a .947 save percentage. That level of consistency is what separated him from the rest of the league and gave Providence a legitimate anchor in net.
The award also sharpens the long view for Boston. The Bruins assigned DiPietro to Providence on Feb. 27, 2025, and he answered with a season that fit into the organization’s wider depth picture. DiPietro, who was selected by Vancouver in the third round, 64th overall, in the 2017 NHL Draft, had already been named the AHL’s Goaltender of the Year for 2024-25 and made the 2024-25 AHL First-Team All-Star squad, so this was not a one-year spike. It was the continuation of a profile that has been building for several seasons.
Providence’s coaching side was recognized too. Ryan Mougenel won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach for 2025-26, another sign that the Bruins affiliate did more than lean on one standout goalie. For Boston, DiPietro’s MVP season now sits as a marker of organizational depth, with a goaltender who forced his way into the league’s top conversation and made Providence one of the AHL’s most award-heavy teams.
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