During last month's NHL Draft, eligible prospects across North America and Europe gathered around their television and laptop screens, waiting for their names to be called during the virtual event.
Goaltender Calle Clang wasn't waiting anxiously by the screen on Day 2. He was in net for Kristianstads IK in the second Swedish league, Allsvenskan. When he got back to the locker room after stopping 31 of 34 shots in a shootout loss, a teammate checked his phone and told Clang that he had been drafted in the third round by the Penguins.
"It was an unbelievable feeling, for sure," Clang told me in a phone interview on Tuesday. "The draft night was special for me. It was special, it was an unbelievable feeling to get to be a part of the organization. I'm just so excited and thankful for the opportunity."
Clang, 18, said that he spoke with the Penguins a couple of times before the draft, more than he spoke to any other team, but he still wasn't sure that they would be the team to call his name. When it became official, he was happy to be joining an organization with so much recent success.
"I know they have a winning mentality, the've won some Stanley Cups in the past," he said. "They have superstars with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and they have some Swedish guys, too, so that's always fun."
Penguins head scout Patrik Allvin said after the draft that Clang, at 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, "might be a little further ahead in his body composition (than second-round pick Joel Blomqvist). A real competitive player, and he's a play-reader as well."
Clang offered a similar assessment of his game.
"I'm a pretty big guy, so I use my size a lot," he told me. "I think I'm good on my feet, I move quick and I have a good ability to read the game. Those are my biggest attributes, my hockey sense and my reading ability. I'm a pretty aggressive goalie who likes to work with my hands and be pretty active."
He added that he wants to improve his consistency, "be tighter in the net, don't do anything that I haven't done before. Find some structure in the game."
Clang said that in today's game, his favorite goaltenders to watch are Carey Price and Sergei Bobrovsky, but that as a kid growing up in Sweden, he idolized Henrik Lundqvist and dreamed of playing in the NHL like him one day. The first Penguins training camp or development camp that Clang is able to attend will be his first time in America.
"That's always a dream when you're a kid, going to America," he said. "The NHL has always been my dream since I started playing hockey. The NHL is the biggest league in the world, and the best players are there. It's been a dream since I was a kid."
Being drafted by the Penguins gets him one step closer to that dream.
For now, Clang is focusing on working his way up through the Swedish professional system. His Swedish Hockey League rights belong to the club Rögle BK, and he's currently on loan to Kristianstads IK in the second league. With several games being postponed as a precaution due to COVID-19 concerns, Clang has appeared in five games for Kristianstads this season, posting a 2.11 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
The goal is to earn some time in the top Swedish league this season, but for now he's happy with his current situation.
"I have a good relationship with the team I'm with now," he said. "I really get a lot of time on the ice, so I'm really comfortable. When you're young, you need to play (a lot). But it's one of my goals to reach the highest level here."
Penguins goaltending development coach Andy Chiodo is able to watch Clang's games and speaks with him on a weekly basis to provide feedback, and keeps in touch with Clang's goaltending coach in Sweden.
One of Clang's biggest goals this season is to make Sweden's roster for the World Junior Championship, which will begin on Christmas Day in Edmonton using a bubble similar to the one used by the NHL in the postseason. He participated in Sweden's junior selection camp this month and was the starting goaltender in the showcase against the Finnish junior team. Various roster projections for the real tournament have Clang penciled in as Sweden's third goaltender. To even be named to the roster as an 18-year-old would be a great accomplishment.
"I hope to make the team and be an important player for Sweden," he said. "For sure, it's big. I'm an underage goalie, so it would mean a lot to me if I make the team. To make the team this year would be unbelievable, I would be so proud and honored."
Clang isn't sure how many seasons he'll spend developing in Sweden before he makes the jump to North America. He's just focusing on getting better.
"It's hard to say, if it could take two years, five years, even one year," he said. "We're going to have a good connection with the Pens, with the team I'm with now, and with Rögle. So we'll see. First of all, I need to get to the highest level here in Sweden and have some good years here, then I'll move over when I feel like I'm ready."
