The Providence Bruins are no strangers to developing solid goaltenders. Goalie coach Bob Essensa has worked with the likes of Tuukka Rask and Dan Vladar. There has been no shortage of talent in the net within the organization. It is safe to say that the continuous development of Brandon Bussi and Kyle Keyser is in good hands.
Keyser signed a one-year, two-way extension in July. He had a 2.79 GAA and .900 SV% through 24 games in his 2022-23 campaign. Keyser is entering his fifth season with the Providence Bruins. He stands at 6’2’’ and makes his opponents work for those goals. So far in his AHL career, he is 28-25-11 with a 2.79 GAA and a .904 SV%.
Keyser also played for the Oshawa Generals for three seasons.
Brandon Bussi’s Breakout Rookie Season
The second half of this tandem has had quite the breakout in the AHL.
Bussi made his AHL All Star debut in 2023. At the time of making the team he was led the league with a .934 SV% and forth in the league with a 2.17 goals against average. He had eleven wins in his first sixteen appearances.
Bussi makes scoring on him difficult by taking up a large portion of the net at 6’5. He played 32 games last season and was the sixth-best goaltender in the league. In his first full season with the AHL, he posed a .924 SV% with a GAA of 2.40.
There is No Goaltending Development Instruction Manuel
Development can be a tricky thing. There is no instruction manual for each position and a timeline on when you can send them off to a successful NHL career. They traded Dan Vladar to the Calgary Flames because Jeremy Swayman was ahead of schedule and ready for the NHL. The organization saw Swayman as the stronger candidate. It is in the Bruins’ best interest to keep building with these two net minders if they want to continue the success in net.
