SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that it has a goaltender Michael DiPietro of the Providence Bruins was voted the winner Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player for the 2025-26 season.
This award was voted on by coaches, players and the media representing each of the 32 cities in the division.
DiPietro becomes the ninth different goaltender in league history to win MVP honors, following Johnny Bower (1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58), Denis DeJordy (1962-63), Gilles Villemure (1968-69, 1969-70), Pelle Lindbergh (1980-81), JF Labe (1996-97), Martin Brochu (1999-2000), Jason LaBarbera (2003-04) and Dustin Wolf (2022-23).
The MVP selection comes after DiPietro won the Baz Bastien Award as the AHL’s top goaltender in each of the last two seasons. He followed up a breakout year in 2024-25 by improving his numbers across the board in 2025-26, posting a 34-8-1 record and leading the league in goals-against average (1.91), save percentage (.930) and wins (34). DiPietro also ranks fifth in minutes played (2,644), shots faced (1,202) and saves (1,118).
DiPietro won his first seven starts of the season and went 14-1-0 in a two-month span dating back to Jan. 17 to Mar. 14, and allowed two goals or fewer in 33 of his 45 total appearances in back-to-back Bruins to the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular season champions. DiPietro made his second appearance in the AHL All-Star Classic in February, and was voted a First Team AHL All-Star for the second year in a row.
In 190 AHL career games over his seven pro seasons with Providence, Abbotsford and Utica, DiPietro went 118-50-14 with a 2.39 GAA, a .918 save percentage and 12 shutouts. The 26-year-old native of Windsor, Ont., was selected by Vancouver in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft and has made four NHL appearances, including one this season with Boston. He was acquired by the Bruins in a trade on Oct. 27, 2022.
The AHL’s most valuable player award honors the late Les CunninghamAHL Hall of Fame member who was a five-time league All-Star and three-time Calder Cup champion with the Cleveland Barons. Previous award winners include Carl Liscombe (1948, ’49), Johnny Bower (1956, ’57, ’58), Fred Glover (1960, ’62, ’64), Art Stratton (1965, 1974), Dick Gamble (1996), Mike Nykoluk (1967), Dave Creighton (1968), Gilles Villemure (1969, 1970), Doug Gibson (1975, 1977), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Paul Gardner (1985, 1986), Tim Tookey (1987), Jody Gage (1988), John Anderson (1992), Don Biggs (1993), Brad Smyth (1996), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Keith Aucoin (2010), Tyler Johnson (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016), Gerry Mayhew (2020), TJ Tynan (2021, ’22), Dustin Wolf (2023), Mavrik Bourque (2024) and Andrew Poturalski (2025).
Operating since 1936 and celebrating its 90th season this year, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and over the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honorary members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
